Princess of Harmony
by Lunerpet
Summary: This is a story about Shining Star. a alicorn filly going through life and learning from her mother and teacher Twilight Sparkle. meeting many along the way she changes the very fate of Equestria.
1. Chapter 1

"Starlight!" Melody Bloom kicked her hoof gently to wake her up. Starlight was under a bunch of books after a late night of studying. Starlight yawned and sat up brushing off some books. "Another late night huh?"

Starlight nodded and fixed her hair. "Twilight's portal magic is amazing, I can't get enough."

"Portal magic? Oh you mean the that portal that Twilight set up using that mirror?" Melody asked. "Why do you care about that?"

"I take interest in all magic." Starlight explained. "Is that weird?"

"Ah, let me see what you have so far." Melody looked at the books and realized it was all theories and ideas of how portal magic works. Not actual magic. "Um...this isn't portal magic."

"What do you mean?" Starlight looked at her confused and took the books from her. "This is what Twilight gave me."

"Well to be honest Starswirl the bearded knew all about it. And lucky for you I knew him." Melody said taking a blank book and using a quill to write as she talked. "Of course in my era it was just theories, however he did tell me all his ideas at one point or another, he loved to talk."

"I still find you amazing Melody, I can't even imagine what your went through." Starlight pointed out as she watched Melody writing in the black book.

"Trust me, you don't want to know. It's a lot better in this era." Melody said. "And portal magic isn't hard to be honest, Starswirl told me it was all about the right order of runes. Their like coordinates to order worlds."

Melody finished writing what she remembered from Starswirl's rambling. "There we go. Here."

Starlight took it and looked it over. "This is amazing...no wonder he was the master of magic….wait."

She closed the book and realized that the book Melody used had a cutie mark on it. "Oh dear...this book is Twilight's. She doesn't like anyone touching it and you wrote all over it."

"It was blank for most of the pages. It's fine." Melody said. "Don't worry."

"Well I hope it will be okay." Starlight said with a shrug and took the book. She wanted to study all of the notes. From just the first page she could tell it was very detailed. "All this from memory?"

"I don't want to brag but it's true. I remember everything I've been though very well. Even as a filly. It's really useful." Melody explained.

"That sounds so cool, I wish I had a memory like that." Starlight said half jokingly.

"You could have it if I could give it to you, I remember everything...that means I still remember what happened to my family as if it happened five minutes ago." Melody admitted. She then smacked herself seeing Starlight looking depressed from this.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to-" Starlight apologized but Melody cut her off.

"Don't be sorry, I brought up the whole dead parents thing. I'm really bad with good moods." Melody said.

"It's okay Melody, you did live in an era of nothing but serious conflict after all. Nobody will blame you for talking about it." Starlight said.

"I think I see why Twilight picked you fro her pupil." Melody said.

"Your just saying that. I'm not special." Starlight said humbly.

"Oh but you are." Melody Bloom said, she was about to continue when suddenly Discord popped out of one of the castle vases.

"Isn't this nice? Two friends becoming closer, be careful you two. Or some of us will start to ship you." Discord said mockingly.

Melody rolled her eyes at this, she wished Twilight would let her just turn him to stone or something. "What are you talking about? And what do you want?"

"Well I just so happened to hear your little conversion and I just have to warn you. Time travel is not a good idea. I've done it." Discord pointed out. "It's not all it's cracked up to be."

"Time travel?" Starlight and Melody looked at him. "We were talking about other worlds other realities."

"Oh really? Now that is interesting. Mind if I come along?" Discord asked.

"Yes actually we mind completely." Melody said annoyed. "Go crawl back in your wormhole monster, we have important work to discuss."

"Jeez, you still are holding that whole killing your mother thing over my head huh?" Discord said as if it didn't matter at all. "You've never been very fun Melody. Always so serious and mean."

"Discord!" Starlight growled.

Melody glared at him. "What do you mean by that?"

"I'm just trying to point out that I am beloved by Twilight and her friends because I'm fun and willing to go the distance to help others. And you, your a shut in that thinks she knows everything magical and has no friends. Just hate." Discord said plainly clearly he was trying to get under her skin and it was working.

Starlight looked at Melody worried. She had no idea what she would do. Melody took a deep breath and turned away from him. Starlight was about to say something when Twilight walked in, she had a towel around her mane and tail as she looked fresh out of the shower. "Discord!"

"Oh hey best friend. What can I do for you?" Discord asked acting innocent.

"You jerk!" Twilight slapped him with her magic. "I was taking a shower and you replaced water with Rainbow mix!"

Twilight removed her towel around her mane revealing it was rainbow colored now. "Look at this!"

Starlight held back a laugh and Melody didn't really react to it. Discord laughed out loud and messed with her hair. "It looks good on you, what's the problem?"

Twilight's eyes flashed red in pure rage. "No pony...messes..with...my hair!"

She used her magic and created a door from nothing. "Get out of my house!"

She kicked him through the door and closed it, then she took the door away with her magic. "Haa...I really hate that guy."

"Nice one Twilight." Starlight said. "But I thought you were going to be with Rarity and the twins today."

"I was, but now my hair is ruined, I can't go out like this. It's a mess." Twilight said. "Discord has been more and more jealous lately."

"Well the twins are getting attention and he isn't." Melody spoke up.

"Are you okay Melody? Did he say something about...you know?" Twilight asked.

"Of course he did, but I'm not letting him get to me...as much." Melody admitted. "It's still hard though."

Twilight nodded and saw the Book Starlight had. "Oh! I see you found Sunset's book, do you need it for something?"

"Oh uh, sorry Twilight. We just wanted to study some of Starlight's magic. Is that okay?" Starlight admitted glad to change the subject.

"I don't know mind at all, just make sure you don't do anything crazy, I do need that book." Twilight said.

Melody looked Twilight over and smiled. "You know, looking at you know. You make Rainbow hair look good."

Twilight blushed at this. She brushed her hair a little. "Well...thanks, but don't get used to it. I like my normal hair color."

"Hey I'm actually going over to Rarity's, she said she found a strange journal and wants me to check it out. So be careful okay? I don't want to come home to ruins." Twilight explained.

"Right, don't worry so much. Have fun with your marefriend." Starlight said.

"She's not my marefriend, we're just hanging out." Twilight said before she left.

"She's in denial." Starlight said happily before getting back to work on her studies with Melody's help.

Twilight was really happy that Melody was there, she could take over Starlight's studies while she was busy. And thanks to her having twins she was really busy now.

Twilight went straight to Rarity's home and knocked on the door, to be honest she was looking forward to twins one day living with her. But she was happy that the girls were with Rarity.

The door opened and Sweetie Belle opened the door. "Oh hey! Princess Twilight. What is it?"

"I'm here to see my little ones." Twilight said stepping into the house. "And Rarity as well."

Twilight heard someone talking upstairs and then a loud crash. "What's going on?"

"Well...Rainbow Dash made another bet with Dusk Sparkle. What happened to your hair by the way?" Sweetie Belle explained.

"Discord happened, another prank as usual." Twilight said before she walked upstairs.

Rarity was cleaning up a broken vase as Rainbow Dash and Dusk Sparkle were there looking like they just got in trouble with their mother. "Did I not say? no flying indoors, must I go over the rules again?"

"Sorry Rarity, we just….you know?" Rainbow Dash tried to explain.

"It's fine Rainbow Dash, it's only a vase from my grandmother's collection that was one of a kind, one she got from the unicornia age." Rarity said sighing. "Going into my attic wasn't smart, there is some priceless artifacts in there. It isn't a playing ground."

"We're sorry...we just got caught up playing." Dusk Sparkle admitted. "We can fix it if you want."

"No, I'll get a professional to fix it, I just hope I have all the pieces." Rarity said.

"Oh my, are you all okay?" Twilight asked walking up to them.

"Mom!?" Dusk Sparkle smiled and gave her a hug.

Twilight hugged her with one leg. "So you are causing Rarity more trouble again huh?"

"Well...yes..." Dusk Sparkle said feeling disappointed in herself.

"Twilight darling, it's so good to see you." Rarity said as she finished cleaning up the mess.

"What are you doing here?" Rainbow Dash asked. "Digging the new look though."

"Discord did this to me, another prank of course." Twilight said. "And I'm here to spend time with the girls. Where is Shining Star?"

"Unlike our little trouble maker Shining Star is studying." Rarity said.

"Studying?" Twilight asked. "What do you mean?"

"She's doing her homework." Rainbow Dash said. "They do go to school now after all."

"They do?" Twilight asked. "When was this?"

"We only just started mom." Dusk Sparkle explained. "Rarity got us enrolled but we're taking exams to see what level of education we're at."

"What you said Shining Star is doing homework." Twilight said confused.

"Oh that's because she's studying to take the test." Rarity clarified for her. "Dusk got bored and is taking a break."

Twilight nodded finally understanding, princess Luna had been right. Rarity knew what she was doing when it came to raising children. "Well I'm glad you girls are keeping busy."

Rarity noticed the look Twilight had, she could tell she was felt left out, when the twins first showed up Twilight didn't know what to do with herself, but now she was being very motherly.

"I'm done!" Shining Star came up with some papers held up with her magic. "I took extra care for each paper just like you said!"

"Oh can I see?" Rarity asked taking the paper and looking it over. "Oh my goodness. Shining Star this is amazing."

"Really?" Twilight looked at the paper and smiled. "Wow, can't wait to see what score she gets."

"Dusk? Would you please finish your paper? Cheerlie is expecting the paper soon." Rarity pointed out.

"Okay fine." Dusk said going back to her room.

"So can I play yet?" Shining Star asked.

"You can play, but make sure you play outside please?" Rarity said.

Shining Star jumps happily and grabs Rainbow Dash. "Let's play!"

"Sure!" Rainbow Dash nodded and they went outside.

Rarity let out a little sigh and smiled at Twilight. "Your children are very high maintenance."

"I'm sorry Rarity, they must be hard to work with." Twilight said. "I can take them to my castle if you want?"

"Twilight, I know you want them to be with you, but you know you can't." Rarity pointed out.

"Yeah...I know, my princess duties come first." Twilight nodded. "Even though I haven't done anything with my so called duties."

"I understand how you feel Twilight. I'm not even going to try to understand what a princess must sacrifice for her people." Rarity said.

"That's just it, I'm not sacrificing anything, I'm just living in a castle playing princess, I feel so stupid most of the time." Twilight admitted. "I never even thought about having a family before, but now that I do have one I want to be with them."

"Oh speaking of family, I found something strange awhile back and I have been reading it. And you won't believe what I found." Rarity said.

"What do you mean?" Twilight asked.

Rarity went to her room and Twilight followed, she opened a drawer and pulled out a book. "A girl named Rarity, turns out I'm not the only Rarity in the family. She wrote in a journal and from what is on it...well you'll just have to read it."

Rarity took out a book that looked fairly old and showed it to Twilight. Twilight looked it over and then opened it, she read a little of it and looked at Rarity confused. "Are you sure this is real?"

"I don't see why she would make something like that up." Rarity pointed out.

"Let's see." Twilight read more and out loud. "This journal is to remember the true events of Equestrian history. As some would say history is made by the victors. But the victors are not always right."

"Two alicorns, not the ones we all know of course. Serenity and Paradise…." Twilight stopped and looked at Rarity. "Who are they?"

"I'm not really sure myself, but keep reading." Rarity said.

"Okay. Serenity and Paradise are kind and gentle alicorns, they would help all those in need, both had very amazing magical powers. Serenity has magic to change the hearts of any she wishes. She would use this gift to help those in need. In a way it's like hypnosis, one example of her powers is she could help solve problems between warring factions and make peace." Twilight continued. "She's been titled the princess of hearts."

"She sounds very nice." Rarity said.

"Yeah..." Twilight nodded and kept reading. "However some would say her magic was too powerful. Could be used for evil, Starlight the Bearded has expressed this many times in fact. But is Serenity evil? I think not, I knew her, she is loving and caring...she's even with child."

"Aw." Rarity smiled at this.

"Another alicorn...and she had a child...is this real?" Twilight asked herself before reading more. "Paradise...someone I hold very dear to my heart, she had amazing powers as well. She could make anything fertile, she could give life to just about anything, she could help animals have children, or even ponies. Just about anything really. People called her the princess of fertility. Struggling couples from far and wide would always go to her and beg for her spells, she was always willing to help out so she didn't know why they begged. She never turned any pony down."

"This magic...I didn't know there was that kind of magic." Twilight said. "Can you imagine what you could do with such magic?"

"You could help ponies all over Equestria!" Rarity said. "Or even the world!"

"But...why haven't I heard about them before? They seem rather important right?" Twilight asked.

"Using their magic for good? And seem like their very sweet. It's very odd we haven't heard of them before." Rarity admitted.

Twilight nodded and kept on reading. "Truth is, Paradise helped even me. However with recent events I dare not say it."

"This Rarity needed Paradise's help? Amazing." Rarity said as Twilight continued.

"I don't have much time to write in this anymore. But I must tell the true history somewhere. According to official records Paradise and Serenity don't even exist. Starswirl the bearded believed their powers to be...dangerous, he didn't give them a chance and convinced princess Celestia and Luna to seal them away forever in a crystal. As if they are monsters." Twilight read out loud. "No trial, no explanation, just punishment...all because of a maybe. I've lost faith in Ponies. But I will make sure my family line knows the hidden truth."

Twilight put the book down and sat on Rarity's bed. "Wow...do you realize what this means if it's real?"

"I...I can't help but feel it's real Twilight, I don't think she would make something like this up." Rarity said. "Those words were written with love of other princesses."

"I agree...so that means Celestia and Luna lied to us...to the world, I wonder what else they lied about." Twilight pondered.

"We should confront them shouldn't we?" Rarity asked.

"I...I want to get all the facts before we do anything." Twilight said.

"I understand Twilight." Rarity nodded. "Well enough about that, we have a lot to do."

"Right. The twins are waiting!" Twilight and Rarity went outside to go find them.

Meanwhile in Canterlot. Daring Do was looking over an old map. She smiled and nodded to herself as she went into the caves of the mountain. "I wonder if what that strange mare said was true? Is there really a gem down here that contains alicorn magic?"

Daring Do adjusted her hat as she lit a torch and carried on. "This is just a simple cave, I doubt I can write a book about it."

Daring Do looked around as she walked. It was old and looked like some sort of library. She could tell it was Starswirl's old lab, mainly because of the large sign that said "Starswirl's lab."

"So he had a lab down here huh? Good to know I guess." Daring Do went into the lab and the torch lit the place rather well, she could see a bunch of old books and broken vials. While she was looking around there was a gem on the wall gleaming from the light. Daring Do didn't see it however.

The gem glowed gently at first but then it brightened and Daring Do finally noticed it. "What is that?"

Daring Do went over to the gem and it suddenly cracked. "Whoa?"

Then the light shined forth onto the floor and two alicorns appeared there. They both looked like alicorns at first but something was different about them, their wings were not normal. One of them was an Ivory white mare with pink hair with purple tips. She had red eyes and her wings were demon like.

The other one had the same red eyes as the other, but her hair was blue with purple streaks. Her coat was a pearl white color. Her wings were like a pixie's. The first girl stood up and took a deep breath. "That smell...fresh air..."

The other one got up and smiled flapping her wings a little. "It's been so long."

Daring Do was in awe from this. "That gem...it wasn't infused with magic of alicorns...it was sealing Alicorns!"

The first one turned to Daring Do and smiled. "Thank you Ms...Do? Is it?"

"You know me?" Daring Do asked.

"We had a lot of time to kill trapped in that gem." The second one said.

"My name is Serenity. And this is my sister Paradise." The first one said. "With our magic we saw the world change."

"But...why were you sealed away?" Daring Do asked.

"By jealous princesses not getting all the attention." Paradise said plainly.

"And that's why we're going to crush Equestria and burn Canterlot to the ground." Serenity said as if it had been planned for years.

"Wait, your what!? You can't!" Daring Do backs up and readies herself for a fight. "I won't let you!"

"Sis, can you deal with her?" Paradise asked.

"Deal with? I don't think so, as much as I want to we can't just attack Canterlot. We need to make sure Celestia and Luna can't fight us." Serenity smiled at Daring Do and then her horn lit up a red color.

The red aura went around Daring Do's head and she grabbed her head in pain. "Ahh! Stop!"

"You are my slave Daring Do. You belong to me now." Serenity said and increased her magic on Daring Do.

Daring Do's eyes glazed over and she stopped struggling and stood up. "Mas...ter..."

"That's a good little pony." Serenity grinned and walked around her to look at her from all angles. "Now be a good mare and take us to the city."

"Yes...master." Daring Do said before they started to walk.

"Should we disguise ourselves?" Paradise asked.

"But of course." Serenity said using her magic again to take away their wings so they looked like unicorns.

They then slowly made their way out of the cave. Paradise covered her eyes a little when they went outside. "Uh...I haven't seen the sun in so long."

Serenity nodded and they followed their slave to the city. Serenity and Paradise looked around the busy city. "This is Canterlot now?"

"I know we've been watching the world through magic. But this...seeing the real thing is so different." Serenity said.

"Oh!" Paradise dashed over to the market. "Look at this! It's food! I haven't eaten in so long!"

Serenity rolled her eyes. "Are you kidding? We need to get to planning, plus we don't have any bits."

"Oh come on Serenity, a little food after being sealed away for so long isn't going to hurt." Paradise smelled the food and drooled a little. "And Daring Do there has bits right? Daring Do!"

Daring Do comes up to her. "Yes master?"

"Please buy us some apples." Paradise told her.

Daring Do nodded and went off to buy some food. Serenity sighed and went up to her. "This is a waste of time."

Right after she said that her stomach growled making her blush. Paradise just smiled at her. "Don't even..."

Daring Do didn't take long and came back with some apples for them. "Here masters."

"Oh yay!" Paradise takes one and eats. "Mmmm!"

Serenity looks at them and Paradise offers her an apple. Serenity took it and took a small bite. She really didn't feel like eating, she mostly wanted revenge.

Paradise her apple fast and smiled. "That was good, apples have really gotten better in the time we were gone right sis?"

"It's fine." Serenity said before taking another bite.

Paradise patted their slave on the head. "Good job Ms. Do, your a good little slave."

"Thank you master." Daring Do blushed a little.

"Don't compliment the slave for doing her job Paradise." Serenity said annoyed.

"Jeez Serenity, lighten up." Paradise said stroking Daring Do's mane like a doll's. "She has feelings even as our mindless slave."

"Whatever, let's just scope out the castle. We need to plan." Serenity said throwing what was left of the apple she had in a trash nearby.

Paradise rolled her eyes and they headed to the castle. Even as they planed their revenge on the princesses she couldn't help but feel like this was wrong.

Meanwhile back in Ponyville. Twilight Sparkle had been playing with Dusk Sparkle and Shining Star. Rarity had called Cheerliee to look at the tests the girls had done before and Rainbow Dash was gone for now.

"Hey Mommy?" Shining Star asked her mom as she climbed up on her mane. "Can I ask you something?"

"You can ask me anything sweetheart." Twilight said with a smile.

"When can we move in with you? I mean mama Rarity is great and I'm super happy here, but I would like to live with you." Shining Star admitted.

"I would love nothing more girls. But I can't, my royal duties...they take all my time…I guess." Twilight said.

"Does being a princess mean you can't have a family?" Dusk asked.

"Oh no Dusk. That's not it. My sister in law has a family." Twilight said.

"Then why can't you?" The twins asked at the same time.

"Well...I'm new to the whole princess thing still. I don't have a kingdom or any duties." Twilight admitted.

"Soooo...your not really a princess?" Shining Star asked. It was blunt but they had a right to ask all these questions. Although Twilight didn't know how to answer them.

"No I am...I'm just not...important enough to have duties." Twilight said, now feeling down.

The girls noticed this and realized they asked too many questions. "Sorry mommy."

"It's okay girls, I'm more then happy with you two in my life." Twilight said trying to brush off her hurt feelings.

"Hey!" They heard a shout and someone hopping.

"Huh?" Twilight looked over at a hill and Pinkie Pie came hopping up to them.

"Hey Twilight! hey babies!" Pinkie dashed over to them with her hopping. "What's up!?"

"Pinkie!" The twins jumped on her, luckily Pinkie's hair was crazy soft as she was tackled to the ground.

"How are my favorite alicorn babies?" Pinkie said giggling on the ground.

"Their not really babies Pinkie." Twilight said.

"Uh, yeah they are. They are only a couple months or so old after all. That means their babies. It's science Twilight silly!" Pinkie pointed out.

"Okay you have me there." Twilight admitted. "So what brings you here?"

"Rainbow Dash told me they were playing, so I wanted to play too!" Pinkie explained.

"Girls!" Rarity called as she came out with Cheerliee. "We're done!"

Twilight got up with Pinkie and took the children with them over to Rarity. "So how did they do?"

"How did they do? They passed almost every test with flying colors!" Cheerliee said. "They will be skipping my classes altogether, and go straight to high school!"

"Wow! They are skipping a TON of grades!" Pinkie said excitedly.

"Skipping grades? That's amazing! But is that a good idea? Their just children. Going to high school so fast is a little much isn't it?" Twilight said.

"That's what I said." Rarity agreed. "But it's honestly their choice. Shining Star? Dusk Sparkle? Would you like to go to school? I will admit that we won't be there with you when your there."

The twins looked at each other and then Shining Star looked at them again. "To be honest...I don't want to be away from my family, it feels like we just really started being a family. Can we look into it? We don't want to rush things."

"That's perfectly fine girls." Cheerliee said. "It's a tough decision, just think about it and call me over when you made your choice."

"Well thank you so much for coming over Cheerliee." Rarity said.

"It's my pleasure. It's not everyday someone like me gets to be near princesses." Cheerliee said before she walked away.

"Wow Twilight, they really are your kids, they skipped grades just like you!" Pinkie pointed out.

"Yeah...but now I know how my mother felt when I left to be the princess's pupil." Twilight said. "No wonder she was crying with joy whenever I saw her."

"Don't sound so sad Twilight." Rarity said. "These things take time. So don't panic just yet."

"Your probably right, I'm over thinking things." Twilight agreed.


	2. Chapter 2

Shining Star looked over some books, having read them all she was already bored and playing was fine and all but she wanted to do something with her mothers. "Hey mom? Can we go to the park together?"

Twilight was about to say something when a letter appeared in front of her. "Huh? Oh uh give me a second Shining Star."

Twilight went over the letter and sighed. "Sorry Shining Star, I can't. Celestia and Luna need to see me right away."

"Oh." Shining Star nodded as Twilight walked away.

Rarity walked into Shining Star's room after Twilight left. "Shining Star? Are you okay?"

Shining Star nodded going back to her book. "I'm fine."

"No your not." Rarity said going over to her and sitting with her. "Listen, I understand how you feel. You want to spend time with your parents but they are never around."

Shining Star looked at her. "Are your parents like that?"

"Actually yes. They came by after years of not even calling and dropped my little sister at the door. I've had to care for her ever since." Rarity admitted.

"That's...awful..." Shining Star said. "Are parents always like that?"

"What do you mean Shining?" Rarity cocked her head confused.

"I am just thinking about family, is it worth having parents at all? Dusk and I got along fine before." Shining Star pointed out going back to her book. "It seems like a lot of work to even get mommy's attention. Always being called away on some sort of business, or just plain busy."

"Sweetie." Rarity shook her head and closed the book Shining Star was reading so she could pay attention to what Rarity was saying. "Twilight cares about you, she just has her princess duties and being a teacher on top of that. She has a busy life and she can't do it all by herself. That's why you two are living here with me."

"I know." Shining Star said. "Your right mama, I guess I've just been hoping to spend time with my birth mommy as much as I've been spending time with you."

"She wishes the same thing, trust me." Rarity pointed out. "Please don't be upset with her."

"I'm not really upset, just disappointed." Shining Star said. "On another subject though. Do you think me and Dusk are really meant to be princesses?"

Rarity smiled and hugged her close. "You two are princesses."

Shining Star smiled back at her and nuzzled herself under her hoof that was around her. "Hey can I ask you another question?"

"You can ask me anything. Shining darling, what is it?" Rarity said.

"Are there any more alicorns like me and Dusk?" Shining Star asked.

Rarity sighed and knew she couldn't answer it the way she wanted to hear. "I'm sorry Shining Star...but there are only the four adult princesses and one baby alicorn. You two are one of a kind."

"Oh..." Shining Star frowned.

"But you can make friends with the other kids your age, they would love to be your friends." Rarity pointed out.

"Sure, but...why is there so many unicorns, pegasi and earth pony children but almost no alicorn children?" Shining Star questioned.

"Alicorns are not...natural in a sense, only Melody Bloom would know the answer as to why there isn't any now. But in her age there was many of them. Celestia and Luna were born alicorns but it's been recorded that Flurry Heart is the only one that was born a alicorn." Rarity pointed out. "Why don't you go ask Melody Bloom? I'm sorry I can't answer you."

"Okay mama, I will. She's got to know something." Shining Star got up and went over to Twilight's place.

"Hey wait!" Dusk Sparkle dashed over to them. "I want to go!"

"Dusk you have chores, after you broke my vase you have to work at my shop until you can pay for it." Rarity said.

"But mama, it was an accident." Dusk Sparkle said.

"Well you need to learn that playing indoors has it's consequences. You broke something important of mine and I expect you to do the right thing." Rarity said. "Now let's go."

Rarity then took Dusk back to her shop and Shining Star went to Twilight's castle. When she got there she saw Starlight and Melody Bloom working on what looked like a mirror.

"Okay so all we do is have these symbols in the right order, so this one goes here." Melody Bloom said drawing some symbols on the mirror.

Starlight nodded. "Amazing."

"Hello?" Shining Star spoke up.

"Huh?" Starlight looked over and smiled. "Oh hello there Shining Star, can I help you?"

"Actually I wanted to talk to Melody Bloom if that's okay." Shining Star said.

Melody Bloom looked over now and stopped working, she went over to her and smiled. "What is it little princess?"

"Do you know anything about alicorns?" Shining Star asked.

"Alicorns?" Melody put a hoof on her chin and thought about it. "Alicorns are very strange beings. Why do you want to know about them?"

"I want to know if there are anymore of them...me and my sister are the only ones of our age...mommy can't play with us because she's always busy and….I just want to have friends that are like me." Shining Star said.

"Well your friends with your sister right?" Melody asked.

"Of course, we're best friends." Shining Star agreed.

"Honestly the alicorns used to be everywhere around here." Melody Bloom admitted. "I never met any alicorns myself to be honest, but I did hear about your grandmother before Equestria was created."

"So...there really isn't any other alicorns huh?" Shining Star sighed. "So me and my sister really are alone in this world huh?"

Starlight went over to her and put a hoof around her. "It's okay, we're your friends, isn't that enough?"

"No." Shining Star said plainly. "I love you all sure, but I want friends like mommy."

"You want friends your own age huh?" Melody Bloom asked.

"Is that selfish?" Shining Star asked.

"Not at all." Starlight said. "I know how you feel, I pushed my friends away for stupid reasons and now I'm working hard to make friends again."

"I had no friends back then, or at least I thought I didn't. Only recently do I realized I had friends I tried to push away. I still remember Maple Pie. She was a sweetheart." Melody Bloom said. "I was a jerk to her though."

"So...what do me and my sister do?" Shining Star asked.

"We can't answer that for you." Starlight admitted. "You have to find your path on your own."

"Well that's stupid." Melody Bloom said. "Listen, if you need help trying to figure out who you are. Talk to the other alicorns, trying to understand who you are shouldn't be a lonely journey. I've been there, and even though I learned much about the world and how it worked. I got thrown into a new era and none of that mattered. Seriously I didn't learn anything about friendship until I came here."

"That's true actually, I was like that myself. Except for the whole time travel thing." Starlight admitted.

"Okay, well thanks anyway." Shining Star said before leaving.

"Poor kid, it must be harder on them then we realized." Starlight said getting back to the mirror. "Being one of a kind, or even two of a kind just isn't enough, Twilight is lucky she was a unicorn before being a alicorn. She made so many friends before and after you know."

"Well it's a known fact Shining Star and Dusk Sparkle were born alicorns, they have nobody to relate to other then a baby. And I still don't know anything about Flurry Heart." Melody said.

"What do you mean?" Starlight asked.

"I never got to see her, they all left without me." Melody said. "Again."

"Well you are a shut in." Starlight pointed out.

"Why does everyone keep saying that? I just don't trust Discord, how can any of you?" Melody Bloom pointed out.

"We don't trust him, we just don't let him get to us." Starlight said.

"Your lucky. I can't do that." Melody said.

"Hmm..maybe you can." Starlight thought out loud and used her magic to mess with some symbols.

"What are you doing?" Melody asked.

"I think I know what I'm doing, judging from the symbols and your notes I believe the symbols will give us…." Starlight said before a big spark came from her horn and the mirror glowed and turned into what looked like a pool of water floating in the air. "Okay let's go in."

"Already? Are you sure?" Melody Bloom asked.

"Yep. Trust me, you need this." Starlight said before walking into the mirror portal.

Melody looked at the mirror unsure but she figured if Starlight was brave enough to do it she could do it as well. She took a deep breath and walked in the portal after her.

On the other side it was so bright she had to shut her eyes to adjust to it for a little bit and cover her eyes a little. She heard only a little bit of noise and when her eyes adjusted her eyes grew in shock. "Wha...no way..."

Starlight was in front of her smiling and behind her was the very village she was a child in. the one with her mother. "I did it!"

"Starlight...what...what is this?" Melody said looking around still in shock.

"I adjusted the symbols to go to a world that was in the past but only slightly off, it was really simple given the Starswirl's ideas. In this timeline Pom Pom. It's still not happy...but Pom Pom is alive." Starlight said. "Just...I can't say if she's anything like YOUR Pom Pom."

Melody Bloom nodded and went straight for her old home. She looked around and noticed the house was empty. She checked the door and found it open. "That's odd."

Melody Bloom went inside and noticed the very plant she grew with her magic so long ago. "It's….just how I left it..."

She even noticed the photo she had in her room back at the castle just hanging on the wall. "Is she really here?"

Starlight poked out of the window. "Hey, I think Pom Pom was last spotted at a grave stone. You should check there."

"Grave?" Melody pondered as to why she would be there and left the home to search the old town's graveyard.

When she got there she saw her adopted mother sitting in front of a grave. Just...staring at it unmoving. Melody Bloom slowly approached her. "I…Pom-mother?"

Pom Pom turned to her, clearly tears were fresh from her eyes and she just looked at her. "Your...you can't be...Melody?"

Melody went over to her looking at her as if she was looking at a ghost. "You...really are alive...here..."

"You can't be...alive..." Pom Pom touched her face checking if she was real. "Your older..."

Melody Bloom then quickly hugged her tightly. "I missed you so much!"

Pom Pom felt odd but hugged her back. "You really are her..."

Starlight watched this from a distance and smiling to herself. This was the first real good deed she has done, even if it wasn't the same timeline, they both were crying and smiling.

Pom Pom felt her mane and knew it was her at this point. "Melody Bloom, you have my ribbon? It looks great on you! But...can I see it?"

"Oh sure, it's yours after all." Melody Bloom sniffled a little and took the ribbon out of her hair and gave it to her.

Pom Pom wiped the tears off her face. "It's just...amazing...and I was just...crying over my loss of you..."

Melody Bloom looked at the grave and noticed that it had her name on it. "So...that's the major difference here. You didn't die, I did…"

"So...you are from another world then?" Pom Pom asked clearing up her tears with her own ribbon. "I figured it was something like that..."

"Really?" Melody Bloom asked. "But how?"

"Because...you were always special. You were beaten so badly but you always smiled with missing teeth or bruised knees and pigtails..." Pom Pom choked up as she spoke. "You saved me...Discord was about to attack but you used your magic...and...killed him, you saved us all...but it took everything you had...you were so young your little body just...ga-gave out...I tried...I...*Sniff* I really tried to save you...but I couldn't…I...I failed you..."

Melody hugged her again in tears. "You didn't fail me...*Sniff* You never did...I know...no matter what timeline, or world...I love you mom...I love you…"

Pom Pom smiled happily at this and dried her eyes. "Thank you...thank you so much..."

Several minutes passed and they finally calmed down. They left the graveyard and went back to town where Starlight was now waiting for them. "Hey Melody! Hello Pom Pom!"

"Is this a friend of yours?" Pom Pom asked.

"Yes, she's one of my close friends." Melody said truly smiling.

"So tell me everything!" Pom Pom said going into her home with the others following her.

"It's a long story. But short version is I traveled a lot after you passed away in my world and grew..so much hate, I can't forgive Discord who is alive in my world, and I can't...hold back my anger." Melody Bloom explained. "Then I found a portal to the future and ran into my friends."

"Portals to other worlds? To futures...it all seems so unreal. And yet here you are." Pom Pom said amazed. "I'm so happy you have friends though! And such cute ones!"

"Mo-mom!" Melody Blushed from this and Starlight looked confused.

"Hehe! I'm kidding, but you have grown up so beautiful. But I think I know why Starlight wanted to come here. You need help getting past Discord." Pom Pom admitted.

"I hate him, I'll never forgive him for what he did to you." Melody Bloom said.

"I understand how you feel, but hate isn't the answer, tell me. Has he done anything to you in the future?" Pom Pom asked.

"No...he keeps saying sorry and trying to make up for it." Melody said. "I hate it. I mean sure...it was an accident...but I can't...I can't do it."

"I see." Pom Pom pondered. "If he didn't mean it and he is trying fix it. Then you have to forgive him."

"What!?" Melody looked at her confused. "No way!"

"Remember what I told you? When you couldn't stand even looking at an earth pony because of so much hate." Pom Pom pointed out.

"You said….hate only hurts and never fixes anything..." Melody said before sighing.

Pom Pom smiled and pulled over Starlight which surprised her. "Look at her Melody. Look at your friends, from what you told me. You even have earth ponies as friends now. So do you really want to ruin such amazing friendships over your hate of a single person?"

"She's right Melody, I know for a fact hate doesn't get you anyway." Starlight agreed.

"But...I've been hating all my life..." Melody said. "Is it really that simple? Just forgive and forget..."

"You don't have to forget, but you should forgive a person that didn't mean to harm you. I know your Pom Pom would say the same thing." Pom Pom said.

"Your...right...you always have been." Melody admitted. "Okay...I'll...try."

Pom Pom smiled and patted her head. "That's my girl. It's time for you to move on, please don't make me what holds you back from living your own life."

"I...um...*Sigh* Your right..." Melody brought up a smile and hugged her.

"That's my little girl." Pom Pom happily hugged her back.

"Aww." Starlight giggled from this and then noticed a camera. "Oh! We should take a photo!"

"That's a good idea!" Pom Pom agreed and grabbed the camera.

"I'll take the photo." Starlight said taking it and Pom Pom went over next to Melody again and they smiled for the camera. Starlight took a photo and the picture came out of the front of it and she then shook it for a nice clear picture. "There we go!"

"We're not done yet." Pom Pom said. Using her magic to lift the camera and pulled Starlight over to them. "Say Cupcakes!"

"Cupcakes!" The girls said before the camera went off again.

Pom Pom took the picture and shook it revealing a beautiful photo of them. "Here girls."

She gave them the photos and Melody Bloom teared up a little. "Thanks...mom...I guess...this is good bye?"

"It's only goodbye until you come back to see me again." Pom Pom admitted. "Don't be strangers okay?"

"Of course! We'd love to come by again." Starlight said. "Come on Melody. The others will probably get worried if we don't get back soon."

"Right." Melody said before they left the house.

Pom Pom came out with them and waved to them as they left to the area they came from. "Bye girls! Melody, be sure to take care of your friends! And when you start dating, make them work for it! And don't forget to shower everyday!"

"Mom!" Melody blushed before they went through the portal.

When they got back, everything was the same, the castle was just has they left it. Even the large mess they left behind. "Starlight?"

"Yeah?" Starlight looked at her friend but was shocked a bit when Melody hugged her. "Oh!"

"Thank you. I really did need that." Melody Bloom said. "Your a true friend."

"I'm glad to be friends with you." Starlight said with a big smile. "Now I have two friends!"

Melody lets go of her and gives her the photo with all three of them. "This one is yours."

"Aw, thanks." Starlight took it and went off to her room.

Melody knew she had something she had to do and went outside the castle.

Meanwhile Twilight was finally at the castle in Canterlot. She had a lot on her mind but mostly the fact that she didn't get to really do anything with her children. She really hoped that Celestia actually needed her for something unlike the last time she called her over.

Twilight went into Celestia's meeting room seeing not only Celestia and Luna, but Shining Armor and Cadance as well. "Celestia?"

"Twilight, I'm glad your here. We need everyone for this." Celestia said. "Luna and I felt something evil reappear, something we got rid of a long time ago, we'll need you to help us get rid of them once again."

"Is it the changeling queen? Sombra? Tirek?" Twilight asked getting serious.

"No, their names are Serenity and Paradise. A long time ago they were alicorns that helped those in need, but their powers twisted and made them evil." Luna explained. "We had no choice but to seal them away, but somehow their prison was broken, we need everyone here to help us find them and seal them away once more."

"I haven't heard of any other alicorns besides us before. How long ago was this?" Cadance asked.

"It was many years ago when Equestria was still new." Celestia pointed out.

"I don't know, this all seems really strange." Shining Armor said. "I thought alicorn magic was good, how could it be used for evil?"

"It's because of their powers, Serenity had the power to control minds, and Paradise perverted love." Luna said.

Twilight wanted to speak up, she knew that they were lying. Rarity's journal explained what really happened. But she couldn't say anything because if everything that Rarity's ancestor said was true then everything she grew up believing would be wrong.

"Twilight?" Celestia asked getting her attention. "Could you and Cadance look into finding them? Me and Luna will work with Shining Armor to make a new prison for them."

"Alright, you can count on us." Twilight said with a nod.

Cadance and Twilight walked out of the meeting room and Twilight let out a small sigh. Cadance noticed this and had a funny feeling Twilight was hiding something. "Twilight? Is everything okay?"

"I don't really know Cadance, a lot happened recently and now this? Doesn't it feel like a little much?" Twilight asked trying to wrap her head around everything that was going on.

"What do you mean?" Cadance asked.

"Oh you haven't heard have you?" Twilight smiled. "Quite a lot has happened while you and Shining Armor have been away."

"Oh? Do tell." Cadance said smiling, she had never seen Twilight like this, almost as if she was a happy parent.

"Well I have two wonderful children back at home, Shining Star and Dusk Sparkle." Twilight said.

"You have fillies!?" Cadance stopped shocked at the news. "When were you going to tell me and Shining Armor?"

"I'm sorry Cadance, but I've been so busy lately, I can't take care of them so Rarity is raising them." Twilight explained.

"You had fillies!?" Cadance looked at her excited as they went back to walking. "Tell me everything! Who is the father!?"

Twilight rolled her eyes. "I didn't actually give birth to them Cadance, it's a long story. And what about you? I heard about Sparkleswirl."

Cadance's ears dropped hearing that name. "You did huh?"

"If you couldn't raise one, why have another?" Twilight asked. "Don't get me wrong, I love Flurry Heart. But Sparkleswirl is your child as well."

"I do love her, but...everyone wanted an alicorn baby. Sparkleswirl was not born an alicorn, everyone just treats her like a reject because of that." Cadance admitted.

"Did you bring her here with you?" Twilight continued.

"No I didn't, she's at home with Flurry Heart, I have my duties here and I couldn't bring them to what could be danger." Cadance said.

Twilight pondered about Cadance's words. Was being a princess worth it? What did she gain from being an alicorn? It felt like she was still following orders and doing what she was told to do. "Cadance….I've been thinking."

"Later Twilight." Cadance stopped her. "Look at that."

Twilight looked over at what Cadance was looking at and saw two girls with Daring Do looking at the castle. "It looks like some girls with Daring do?"

"Daring do? Isn't that the character from those books?" Cadance asked.

"Ye-yeah, let's go over and check it out." Twilight said.

"Don't worry about them, their just cosplaying around, some ponies are just weird." Cadance said walking away from them.

Twilight felt something was wrong but she followed Cadance anyway. As they left Serenity had noticed them and smiled. "Did you hear that? They thought we were cosplaying thanks to our little slave here."

"Nice." Paradise smiled and then looked confused. "What's cosplay?"

"Got me, but it was something that fooled royalty rather easily, although they weren't the same as the ones I plan on killing." Serenity pointed out.

"Well maybe running a kingdom is too much for the sisters and they had to make more alicorns to help them." Paradise tried to explain.

"Oh who cares? If they get in the way I'll deal with them as well." Serenity said and turned to her slave. "Daring Do, it's time to set the trap against those traitors."

"Yes master." Daring Do said sneaking into the castle through a window.

"So she brings them out and we trap them right?" Paradise asked.

"That's the plan." Serenity said with a nod.

"Before we do this...are you sure we should go through with it? I mean...it's been years, maybe they changed?" Paradise pointed out. She really didn't like fighting after all.

"Maybe they did, maybe they didn't. All that matters is making them feel what I felt when I lost my child..." Serenity said bitterly.

Paradise didn't say anything, she just watched as Daring Do sneaks in. "Okay then."

Daring Do slipped in and realized that the guards weren't even around, she looked at the main door and opened it with ease. "Master, there are no guards here."

"What?" Serenity looked at her confused. "That's odd."

Daring Do shrugged and they walked in. sure enough the guards were all missing. "Do they really live without guards around?"

Paradise looked out at the garden to see the guards were all out to lunch. "Their on break."

"They give their royal guards a lunch break? Do they even try and keep the kingdom safe?" Serenity asked walking into the castle.

"Unless they expect us." Daring Do pointed out.

"Your right, this could be a trap for us." Paradise said.

"Indeed." They heard Celestia around the corner and suddenly a barrier appeared around Serenity, but Paradise grabbed Daring Do and jumped back avoiding it.

"What!?" Serenity hit the shield in anger. "How dare you!"

Celestia came up to her and sighed. "So you did come back..."

"And I'm going to get justice for what you did!" Serenity growled.

"I didn't enjoy sealing you away, you were dangerous." Celestia pointed out.

"Lies, Daring Do! Get me out of this!" Serenity ordered.

Daring Do then jumped over her and kicked Celestia back. Celestia's magic broke and Serenity grinned and stomped on Celestia. "Now I'll seal you away like you did me!"

Celestia glared at her and Luna blasted her away running up to Celestia. "Are you okay sister?"

"I'm fine, their still powerful even after all this time." Celestia said getting up.

Paradise caught Serenity and landed on the ground. "Hi Luna, it's been awhile."

"Paradise, why did you come back?" Luna asked.

"Same reason as you, revenge." Paradise said simply.

"It's not the same." Luna said.

Serenity pushed Paradise out of the way and looked at Daring Do. "Attack slave!"

"Yes master!" Daring Do tackled Luna and punched her hard.

"Ah!" Luna tried to get her off but she was skilled and wasn't easy to knock away.

"Luna!" Celestia tried to help her but Serenity blocked her. "Get out of my way!"

"Oh I'm sorry princess, does my existence upset you!?" Serenity used her magic to blast her away.

Paradise wanted to help Serenity but she couldn't. She couldn't bring herself to harm Luna or Celestia. She didn't blame them like her sister did. Daring Do punched Luna several times until Luna kicked her off and used her magic to make a shock wave knocking Daring Do back.

"Enough of this!" Celestia said flaring her magic.

Just as she was about to cast a powerful spell Shining Star came knocking on the door. "Hello? Mommy? Are you busy?"

"Shining!?" Celestia's magic fizzled out by the sudden appearance. "Get out of here! Now!"

Serenity looked over at the filly who was taken back from the shouting, she had no idea what was going on. "You….have a daughter now?"

"But mommy, I just wanted to talk-" Shining Star tried to speak but Celestia spoke over her. "Shining Please, get out!"

Shining Star's ears flopped down and backed up a little. "I..."

Before she could say anything Serenity jumped over and grabbed her. "Haha! You took my daughter away Celestia, and now I'll do the same to you!"

"Serenity. She's not your target, let her go!" Luna shouted. "Attack us if you must but don't hurt her!"

"Come on Daring Do! Paradise! Let's go!" Serenity said before running off with Shining Star.

"Master!" Daring Do ran after her.

Paradise looked back at Luna and Celestia before running off with the others.

"No!" Luna tried to chase after them but Celestia stopped her. "Celestia!?"

"Luna, we have more pressing matters right now." Celestia brought up. "We have to finish the gem to seal them away."

Shining Armor walked in having heard all the noise but nothing clear. "What happened out here?"

"It was nothing, let's get back to work." Celestia said going back into the study.

"Nothing?" Luna asked shocked at her sister. "Shining Star was just taken and you say it was nothing!?"

Celestia ignored her and opened a book to begin. Shining Armor was pretty clueless about what happened but even he knew something was wrong. "Luna? What happened."

"Serenity and Paradise came and attacked us..." Luna said going passed him and straight to Celestia. "Sister, you can't just ignore what happened!"

"I can, and am." Celestia said. "I warned her to get away, but she didn't listen."

"She's barely one year old!" Luna growled. "Can you honestly tell me you felt nothing about this!?"

"She isn't my child Luna, I do feel for the poor thing, but if I get worked up I would make a mistake and this spell wouldn't work." Celestia pointed out.

Luna lowered her head just enough that her bangs covered her eyes. She felt sick to her stomach. Celestia had gone to far now. Luna wanted to slap her right there, but she knew that wouldn't solve anything. She just turned away from her and walked out of the room hoping to calm down.

Shining Armor went back to work with Celestia really hoping someone would explain to him the events that just happened.


	3. Chapter 3

Dusk was pacing around, she felt something was wrong, her sister was in trouble, she could feel it. "Mama?"

Rarity looked over after she messed with a dress and noticed she was stressed. "Dusk? What ever is the matter?"

"I'm really worried about Star, I feel something is wrong..." Dusk explained. "Can we go to Canterlot and check in with her?"

Rarity smiled at her. She knew she cared about her sister, but she didn't realize by how much. "I think we can do that, you have been working hard after all."

"Thanks mama!" Dusk said as they walked out the door.

However with Twilight, Luna had come running up to her. "Twilight!"

Twilight looked back and smiled. "Oh Princess Luna, what is it?"

"Shining Star was taken by Serenity and Paradise!" Luna said running up to her fully.

"What!? She's in Ponyville though." Twilight said shocked. "Are you sure?"

"Serenity and Paradise attacked us after you left." Luna pointed out.

"Those girls we saw..." Cadance looked worried. "They were right there and we missed them..."

"Shining Star came here looking for Celestia I think, Serenity then took her and ran off!" Luna explained.

"Poor thing, she barely got passed what Chrysalis did to her." Twilight said. "We have to find her!"

"Well I don't think we have to go far, Serenity wants Celestia to suffer, she would want to do something in public." Cadance pointed out.

"Celestia is busy making the gem prison, we will be on our own for this." Luna said.

"No more time to talk, my baby is in danger!" Twilight said dashing off.

"Twilight, don't run off on your own!" Cadance shouted chasing after her along with Luna.

"Come on!" Serenity said in anger as she pulled Shining Star to the center square. "You are coming with me!"

"Let me go!" Shining Star cried out struggling and trying to grab anything she could to slow her down.

"Little brat!" Serenity said annoyed. "If you weren't a child I would have my slave beat you!"

Paradise watched this and couldn't look away from the crying child. She didn't know what she had been through but knew this was wrong. She didn't know if she could stand this much longer.

Serenity pulled Shining Star away from a post she was hanging onto and Daring Do went over to Shining Star and stepped on her head to keep her there. "Now then, Celestia will come for you and when she does, she can watch as I END you."

"Serenity, please for the love of the crystal heart, this is too much!" Paradise finally spoke up. "She's just a little girl!"

Serenity growled. "She's Celestia's daughter!"

"So!?" Paradise got in her sister's way. "Who cares who's daughter she is, she's a little girl! I don't mind getting revenge on Celestia and Luna for what they did to us but hurting little fillies is too far!"

"You didn't lose anything while trapped, I DID!" Serenity shouted in her face. "If your not with me, get out of the way!"

"I won't just stand by and let you hurt others just for being related to the princesses!" Paradise shouted back.

"So Celestia can have children but I can't!? This is fair to you!?" Serenity said clearly blind from rage.

Paradise shook her head. "I know it's not fair, but we don't know WHERE your daughter is, she isn't gone, you act like she's dead without any proof!"

"Get out of my way Paradise...or else." Serenity growled.

"You know I can't." Paradise said standing up to her sister for the first time.

"Daring Do!" Serenity called and Daring Do let go of Shining Star and jumped on Paradise.

"Ah!" Paradise tumbled and kicked Daring Do off of her. "Serenity!"

Serenity ignored her and went over to Shining Star who tried to get away only to be grabbed by Serenity. "I'm going to send your corpse back to your mother, and I'm going to enjoy EVERY tear she sheds."

Shining Star was crying the whole time. Sobbing she cried out for her mother. "Mommy!"

Serenity stopped when she cried out. Her mind went back to when she was a new mother. Her baby crying as she hurried to Cloudsdale. She looked around and set her baby down in front of a home, it was the home of the man that gave her a child. She looked at her child's face and smiled warmly before tearing up and leaving.

As soon as she left her baby cried calling for her mother. Serenity was suddenly brought back to reality when Twilight Sparkle tackled her to the ground hard away from Shining Star. "Oof!"

Twilight brought up her hoof and slammed it down on her face hard. "Don't you DARE threaten my child!"

"Mommy! You came!" Shining Star said.

"Get off!" Serenity growled. "Daring Do!"

Daring Do looked over and Paradise kicked her back and used her magic to chain her so she couldn't move. "Hey! Master!"

"Darn you Paradise! Traitor!" Serenity shouted.

Twilight hit her again. "Shut it!"

Cadance and Luna came running up. "Twilight!"

Luna smiled at this and went over to Twilight who had Serenity pinned down. "You did it!? Amazing!"

Serenity tired to use her magic when Twilight hit her again making sure she couldn't use magic. "Don't even try!"

"You think this is over because you have me!?" Serenity growled. "I will have my revenge!"

"Is that all that matters to you!?" Twilight asked in anger. "You hate TWO people so much your willing to ruin your relationship with your sister and the world?!"

"What are you talking about!?" Serenity looked at her confused.

"My friend Rarity...she knew...she told me what really happened to you. The lies that Luna and Celestia hid from all of us." Twilight said.

Luna looked at Twilight shocked. "What...how?"

Twilight got up and used her magic to chain Serenity up so she couldn't even use her magic and then spoke not even looking at Luna. "There was another Rarity, a young mare that knew about these girls, she wrote a journal telling her family line about what really happened. Another...shame of Equestria put under wraps."

Luna's ears went down and Cadance looked at them confused. "What's going on?"

Twilight sighed. "I'll tell them all right now Serenity, all the truth. But you went and attacked MY child. You have to be nice if you want the truth out."

Paradise went over to her sister. "Please sister...let's not cause anymore trouble. Let's be better then those who wronged us."

Serenity looked at her and then nodded. Shining Star dashed over to Twilight and hugged her making Twilight hug her back. "Are you okay Star?"

"Yeah..." Shining Star nodded.

"I'm so glad." Twilight hugged her tighter.

"But wait, what truth?" Cadance asked.

"Twilight. You can't." Luna said. "That news will ruin Equestria."

Twilight put Shining Star on her back and shook her head. "Luna this isn't right, on both sides!"

"We did what we had to!" Luna said. "If you reveal it..."

"Is hiding things really so good for us? Look at you!" Twilight pointed out. "Celestia did the same thing to you, remember?"

"Yes….but…" Luna couldn't say anything because Twilight was right.

"Mama?" Shining Star looked down at Twilight.

"Yes?" Twilight asked.

"I need to say something to Serenity...if that's okay." Shining Star said.

"Okay, but be careful." Twilight said.

Shining Star nodded and got off Twilight and went over to Serenity. Serenity looked at her annoyed but Shining Star looked at her eyes closely and smiled. "I can tell…your a nice person deep down."

"What are you talking about?" Serenity asked. "I tried to kill you."

"Yes, but your eyes, they aren't full of hate and rage like you want to believe, you have kind eyes. Like mama's." Shining Star pointed out.

Serenity teared up a little. "I…"

Twilight smiled at this and stood next to Shining Star. "She's a good judge of character Serenity, now you have two options here. You can go to jail and let your legend be one of fear, or you can fix the mistakes that were made."

"Guards!" Luna shouted and suddenly a bunch of royal guards appeared and they grabbed Paradise and Serenity.

"Hey!" Paradise struggled.

"Ha….you really think we have a choice?" Serenity asked not even fighting it.

"Luna!?" Twilight turned to her. "What are you doing!?"

"You don't get it do you?" Luna asked as the guards took the two sisters away. "We lied to keep the world safe, we could have easily made a mistake, but it's been years. What do you think would happen if the people found out we've been lying to them for so long? There would be chaos in the streets, panic would be rampant. I cannot allow that."

"We're princesses, we don't just lock away our problems!" Twilight said.

"Actually...that is exactly what we do." Luna pointed out before walking away.

"What does she mean?" Twilight asked as Cadance walked up beside her.

Cadance sighed and looked at Shining Star as she got back on Twilight's back, she smiled at the little one and turned her attention to Twilight. "I wish I could say she was kidding, but she was right."

"What?" Twilight looked at her as the guards took Serenity, Paradise and Daring Do away. "You can't be serious."

"Twilight...being a princess isn't all fun and games." Cadance said. "It's like they once said, History goes to the winners. Nightmare Moon was a monster that took over Luna but history remembers Luna as the monster."

"So we should just accept that?" Twilight asked annoyed by that logic. "That is...that is so wrong!"

"That's how it is. A kingdom isn't something you can't run by just friendship and dreams." Cadance pointed out.

Twilight didn't say anything at this point, she was too annoyed to speak. Things were not going well and she didn't know what to think. Shining Star looked at them and frowned a little. "I was really scared..."

"I'm sorry Shining Star, being taken like that again must have been scary." Twilight said and looked back at her with a smile to let her know she was glad she was safe. "Where you hurt?"

"I'm fine..." Shining Star said looking down avoiding eye contact with her mother.

That doesn't sound like your fine." Twilight said. "Come on, what's wrong?"

"Mommy said...she didn't want me around...I was being stupid...thinking Celestia would care about me." Shining Star said. Twilight was on a breaking point already, she had to have a talk with Celestia when they got back. For more then one reason.

"Shining, I'm sure you misheard her, Celestia is actually very kind." Cadance said.

Twilight didn't know how to respond as she knew that wasn't true. But Shining Star just shook her head. "I don't know...she doesn't even want to look at me...Ms...uh..."

"Oh sorry." Twilight said forgetting she never introduced them. "Shining Star, this is Cadance, my sister in law, she's really nice."

"I know Celestia can seem...a little stand offish, but she means well." Cadance said.

Shining Star didn't say anything, she was to lost in thought at this point. Twilight knew she was hurt but didn't know how to fix it. "Star?"

"Huh? Oh sorry, hello auntie Cadance." Shining Star said still in thought.

"What did Celestia say to you Star?" Twilight asked as they got back to the castle.

"She told me to leave as soon as I got here." Shining Star said.

"I think she was talking about getting away from those bad people Star." Cadance said. "Let's go talk to her."

When they walked in the castle they saw the guards going down to the dungeon and Celestia talking with Luna and Shining Armor. "I see, you did the right thing Luna."

Twilight walked up to them and cleared her throat. "Excuse me? That wasn't the right thing to do. We need to work things out with them."

Celestia turned to Twilight and smiled. "Oh Twilight, I'm glad your back. Thank you for stopping them."

"So can you tell me why we didn't try and fix things with them? They didn't mean to do all this. Paradise showed me that, she fought against her own sister to save Shining Star. Why didn't you do anything!?" Twilight demanded. She was on her last straw at this point.

"Calm down Twilight, we did what we had to." Luna pointed out again.

"Are you kidding!? They are victims in this!" Twilight shouted. "Are we really going to trap innocent people!?"

"They attacked your daughter Twilight, they aren't as innocent as they might appear." Celestia pointed out.

"She's your daughter too!" Twilight said annoyed. She set Shining Star down in front of her. "You can't keep ignoring her, you can't keep lying to me!"

Celestia looked at Shining Star and then at Twilight. She never saw Twilight this upset before. "Do you really expect me to be a mother to...Chrysalis's child?"

Star buried herself under Twilight chest, hearing those words hurt her more then any of them could realize. Twilight noticed this and hugged her with one hoof. "Is that all you see?"

Cadance went up to Celestia. "Okay that's enough Celestia, it's been a long day."

"All I am saying is I feel no love for a changeling child." Celestia said coldly.

"No, I want to hear this, are you serious Celestia?" Twilight said annoyed. "I want to know how you really feel about Shining Star and Dusk Sparkle. You avoid them, you act coldly to them. You don't even give them the time of day."

"Twilight, let's not talk about this." Luna tried to change the subject, but Twilight didn't back down.

"So what if she was born from changelings. She's an alicorn like us." Twilight explained.

"She was made, not born. Why do you care about her so much?" Celestia said. "She isn't your real daughter and she never will be."

Twilight noticed that Shining Star looking hurt from her words. "I..."

Twilight then stomped her hoof in anger. "Stop that!"

They all looked at her shocked, this was the first time Twilight has ever spoken to Celestia like this. "Excuse me?" Celestia glared at her for speaking that away to her.

"You think your so great. You think your above someone because they are different from you?" Twilight said and pushed Shining Star in front of her to show her point. "Look at her! She's a child, not some kind of experiment you can dump on other ponies."

"Twilight please." Cadance tried to speak up but Shining Armor stopped her. "Armor?"

"She needs to say what's on her mind." Shining Armor said.

"You know? I never even asked to be a princess. I didn't want it. I accepted this fate because I wanted to make you proud. I wanted to show you I could live up to your expectations." Twilight said annoyed. "But I only now realize how stupid I've been!"

Celestia didn't say anything, she just kept listening to her rant as Twilight continued. "You expect so much out of people and yet you don't do anything! I mean I thought it was weird when I heard about what you and Luna did to Paradise and Serenity...I didn't want to believe it...but this isn't the first time you did something like this."

Luna felt bad and knew what Twilight was saying, Twilight seemed to need to get this off her chest. "You forced me as a child to raise Spike and completely miss my school years, you sealed away all of your problems as if that was a great way to solve it, your own sister, Discord, Sombra. All of our major villains are because of your mistakes! Paradise and Serenity didn't even DO anything and you sealed them away."

"I did all that for my people." Celestia said.

"You sealed your sister away for the sake of others? Please, she was trapped inside her own body by a monster named Nightmare, you didn't even try to save her, you waited for someone else to do it! ME. In fact I've been cleaning up after your messes all this time! To be honest, I thought alicorns were meant to do good. You've shown me that being an alicorn...isn't worth it." Twilight explained. "If hiding behind lies and cover ups are what alicorns are about now...then I don't want to be a part of it!"

"What do you mean?" Celestia asked.

"I've been watching you all, Celestia cares nothing for family. And Cadance and Shining Armor are so busy they don't take care of their children. And Luna has been the good little sister not complaining about anything because she's scared of Celestia!" Twilight said annoyed. "All of you have put your careers before your families, I know I never thought about having a family, I didn't know what I would do if I had one. But I've come to realize….I want a family. I want Shining Star and Dusk Sparkle to live with me, if I have to choose between being the "Smile and wave" princess or being a mother to my wonderful children. Then I will gladly give up my title as a princess."

"Twilight, you can't give up your all your life's work, your doing better then any of us." Cadance pointed out. "Your a great princess."

"Even so..." Twilight said. "I can't be a part of these lies anymore."

Twilight stroked Shining Star's mane. "Come on Shining Star, we're leaving."

"Okay mommy." Shining Star said before they walked out of the castle.

"She really left..." Luna sighed. "She was right about us."

Celestia didn't say anything, she just went over to her throne and sat down, she had a lot to think about. Cadance and Shining Armor looked at each other and then left. They wanted to speak to Twilight about what just happened.

"Celestia? What should we do?" Luna asked.

Celestia just shook her head. "Twilight was right about me, I use people and mistreat them. All for the sake of our kingdom, I hurt family and friends..."

Luna went over to her sister and gently hit her shoulder. "You need to make things right, with Twilight, with Star and Dusk, with me. You made a lot of mistakes."

"You are right, I have made mistakes and never made up for them, but can we really let them go?" Celestia said with a sigh.

Luna didn't know how to answer that, but she knew that she needed to fix her mistakes as well. Twilight was walking to the train station with Shining Star, the little filly was still unsure of what happened. "Mom? Are you okay?"

Twilight sighed and nodded. "I'll be fine, I'm just upset it took so long to see what a fool I've been."

Shining Star felt bad about this, she believed it was her fault. "I'm sorry I came here, I didn't mean to cause so much trouble."

Twilight put her wing around Star's shoulder. "YOU didn't do anything wrong Star. But can you tell me why you came here?"

"I just...I just wanted to ask if there was any other alicorns my age." Shining Star explained. "I love you mom, but I...I want friends like me, alicorns my age."

"Oh Star...I'm so sorry. I didn't realize you were so lonely. Of course you are, you only have your sister and nobody else to make friends with. I made several friends before I became a princess." Twilight said. "I wish I could help you."

"So we really are rare huh?" Shining Star asked. She was clearly hurting but she didn't want to worry anyone.

"There isn't even ten of us, we're the only ones around now. Melody said back then there was a lot of us. But nowadays…." Twilight tried to explain.

"Yeah...I guess I won't be making any friends any time soon." Shining Star said feeling bad about this, but she understood to a point.

They got to the train station and Shining Star noticed Rarity and Dusk looking around. "Dusk?"

"Star!" Dusk rushed over and hugged her sister. "Are you okay!? I felt like something really bad was going to happen!"

"Actually I was almost hurt but mommy saved me!" Shining Star said.

"You should have let me come with you. I worry!" Dusk Sparkle said hugging her tightly.

Shining Star smiled at her sister, she patted her back. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have worried you."

"Darn right you shouldn't have." Dusk Sparkle pointed out. "So...did you find out what you wanted to find out?"

"Well..." Shining Star was about to say something when Cadance and Shining Armor came up to them.

"Twilight." Shining Armor came up to her looking worried. "What happened back there...are you sure about this? After everything you worked so hard for...to just give it all up."

"I would rather be a normal pony with a family then a princess of cover ups." Twilight admitted.

"But Twilight, after everything you did to get this far..." Cadance said.

"What do you mean? I didn't even DO anything to become an alicorn. I fixed a mistake I made and that was it." Twilight said.

"What about stopping Chrysalis?" Shining Armor pointed out. "Or beating Nightmare Moon and reforming Discord. You even took down Sombra."

"Those are all lies brother." Twilight said. "You two stopped Chrysalis, I didn't do anything. I didn't beat Nightmare Moon, I just reached Luna's true heart, she did it herself. I didn't do anything with Discord, I wanted nothing to do with him. It was my friend Fluttershy that did that. And then with Sombra Spike was the one that saved the kingdom, all the stuff I did was with my friends."

Rarity looked confused about what was going on. "Twilight? What's going on?"

"Mommy quit being a princess for our sake." Shining Star said. "I feel bad..."

"It wasn't your fault." Twilight said ruffling her mare. "But I'd do anything for my family."

"You quit being a princess!?" Rarity asked shocked. "Why!?"

Twilight sighed and explained what had recently happened to Rarity and Dusk, Rarity was shocked even more now then before. "Celestia really did all that?...my word..."

"That's why I quit." Twilight explained.

"Then my family was right about the true history of Equestria." Rarity pondered. "So what happens now?"

"Now we go home and I spend time with my fillies!" Twilight said happily.

"hey Twilight? How about we meet you at your castle? My kids will love to play with your kids!" Cadance said before heading out with Shining Armor.

"That sounds great!" Twilight said getting on the train with the twins and Rarity.

"Are we going to expose them Twilight?" Rarity asked as the train took off.

"Not yet, I don't want to do that...unless I have to." Twilight admitted.

"Twilight...if you need any help, you can always talk to your friends." Rarity said with a smile.

Shining Star and Dusk were looking out the window of the train and Dusk looked at Shining Star. "So are we really the only alicorns?"

"Yeah, honestly I don't want to be friends with mama Celestia and the older alicorns, their mean." Shining Star said.

"Well...at least we have each other." Dusk pointed out.

"Your right sis." Shining Star said and hugged her.

"So princess-I mean Twilight. What should we do now?" Rarity asked.

"Well if you don't mind, I'd like to have the twins move in with me, I'm done taking orders from liars and objects, and the only reason I didn't have them around was because of some stupid royal duties I never actually did." Twilight said. "If you don't mind."

"To be honest I've gotten use to having them around." Rarity admitted. "But they are your children, I was just watching them so I don't mind at all."

"Why can't mama Rarity live with us too?" Shining Star asked.

"You know why silly." Rarity said. "But just like Twilight did I can come visit you whenever."

"Okay!" Shining Star said happily.

Meanwhile back in Ponyville Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy were playing chess. Pinkie was watching this completely bored. "Ugh...come on girls, why chess of all games? It's so boring!"

"Maybe to some ponies, but it's really good for the mind." Fluttershy said.

Rainbow Dash looked crazy bored, she only played this because Fluttershy wanted to play it. "Mind games are so lame."

"Then why did you agree to play?" Fluttershy asked as she put her next piece down. "Checkmate."

"What!? I don't lose!" Rainbow Dash double checked to make sure. "Oh come on!"

"Your fast with your wings Dashie, but your not fast with your mind." Pinkie declared.

"Are you calling me stupid!?" Rainbow Dash glared at Pinkie.

"No, I'm just saying you can't think very fast." Pinkie admitted.

"Now, now girls. How about you come inside and enjoy some fresh pie I baked myself." Fluttershy said getting up.

"You baked pie?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"You can cook!?" Pinkie asked.

Fluttershy blushed at this. "Pinkie and Applejack aren't the only ones..."

"Then let's go eat!" Rainbow Dash smiled and went inside Fluttershy's home.

"Pie!" Pinkie hopped inside with her.

Fluttershy cleaned up the chess game and then felt something in the air. She looked up in the sky and noticed the clouds were moving faster then normal, but she knew that the Pegasus ponies off work today. "That's odd."

Fluttershy then went inside with her friends to enjoy the pie she baked.


	4. Chapter 4

Twilight walked into her castle, it felt odd going back here but she couldn't live anywhere else, Rarity had gone back with the twins to get their things and she needed to be alone for a bit anyway. It wasn't right, her mind was filled with confusion.

Everything she grew up believing was just covered up with smiles and lies. She always believed what she was doing was right, for the greater good. But now she knew that it was all wrong. Twilight came into her map room and looked at the map. Her faith in herself was gone at this point and walked away from it.

Twilight felt blue, she was about to leave when Starlight walked in. "Hey Twilight...what's wrong?"

"Starlight? Oh hey...I'm not feeling good." Twilight answered. "Also you might want to pack your things."

"Wait, what? Did I do something wrong?" Starlight asked taken back by this.

"No, you didn't do anything wrong...I did." Twilight admitted. "I'm not fit to teach you, I'm not fit to be a princess or even a friend to my friends."

"Twilight...what happened?" Starlight asked.

"I learned the truth Starlight..." Twilight said depressed.

"Can you explain?" Starlight kept asking.

"Celestia and Luna have lied to us...to all of us, for years. Probably since they became princesses. I couldn't stand it...so I quit, I'm not a princess anymore. I'm not your teacher anymore." Twilight explained.

"I see...but...I want to stay." Starlight said. "Thanks to you, I have friends now. I am a better person because of you."

"Starlight..." Twilight looked at her surprised.

"I don't know what they lied about. But what you showed me, what you gave me. That wasn't a lie." Starlight explained.

Twilight smiled now and nodded. "Thank you Starlight, you are right. You can stay as long as you want."

"With that said, I saw the twins at Rarity's packing again. Are they moving here?" Starlight asked.

"Actually yes, I want them to live with me now. Being a princess has been nothing but trouble, so now I'm going to have my family live with me instead of doing everything Celestia tells me." Twilight said.

"You know? This is the first time I've seen you really smile like that. I think you made the right call." Starlight admitted.

"Thank you Starlight." Twilight said. "Now can you help me get some rooms ready?"

"Of course princess." Starlight said before Twilight gave her a stern look. "I mean Twilight."

Meanwhile Melody Bloom was outside Sugarcube corner thinking of what to say. She had to talk to the earth pony Pinkie, she was a Pie after all. She took a deep breath and walked in. as soon as she walked in the door she got all kinds of looks.

"Welco-oh!" Mrs. Cake stopped before she could finish seeing Melody Bloom, as long as Melody Bloom had been around she gained a rep for being cold to earth ponies and being a recluse. "Uh..."

"Um...H-hi...can I see Pinkie?" Melody asked quietly.

"Oh Sorry dear, Pinkie went to Fluttershy's house." Mrs. Cake said. "She's not here."

"Sorry to bother you then." Melody Bloom said turning away.

"Wait, why are you looking for her?" Mrs. Cake asked.

"I have something I need to say to her." Melody Bloom said.

"Like what?" Pinkie said suddenly appearing with a pie in her hoof. "You came out of your castle my fair princess? For me!? Wowie!"

"Oh Pinkie dear, what's that in your hoof?" Mrs. Cake looked at her not shocked at all. She lived with Pinkie long enough to not be surprised by now.

"Fluttershy made pie!" Pinkie said taking a bite. "Mmmm! She's a good cook! Better then AJ or even me!"

"Um..." Melody tried to find the words.

"Oh, what did you want to talk to me about?" Pinkie asked.

"Listen...I'm sorry I've been such a recluse and a hater of earth ponies. So..." Melody hugged Pinkie suddenly.

Pinkie beamed at this, she loved her hugs after all. She hugged her back. "Aww!"

Melody let her go and smiled. "Now this is the place earth ponies get drinks right?"

"Would you like an ice cream shake dear?" Mrs. Cake smiled.

"Sure!" Melody nodded and Mr. Cake came over with a shake ready for her. She took it and took a sip. "Mmm! This is good."

"I'm glad we're friends now Melody!" Pinkie said happily.

"You know what? So am I!" Melody said.

"So what changed your mind about earth ponies?" Pinkie asked.

"I talked to Pom Pom, my mother. She helped me realize a lot of things about myself." Melody explained.

"Wait, how? I thought she...you know?" Pinkie looked a little worried and didn't want to finish her sentence.

"Actually Starlight helped me and we went into another world where Pom Pom is alive, we talked and I got closure." Melody said.

"That sounds amazing!" Pinkie said happily. "Wait, did you say you went to another world?"

"Yes. Why?" Melody said.

"Twilight told us to never use the portal Melody. Going to another world is bad." Pinkie pointed out.

"Why?" Melody asked.

"Because...uh..." Pinkie couldn't figure out why ether. "I don't know."

"I came from another time, so going to another world isn't that hard." Melody explained. "In fact there is no downside as far as I can tell."

"That's true, Twilight got a ton of friends when she went into the human world. Although they were just us as humans, so I'm not sure if that's making NEW friends or just making OLD friends with new forms...how does that work?" Pinkie said.

"Well I just wanted to come by and make amends. So I'll see you later Pinkie." Melody said before heading out.

Melody Bloom noticed Rarity out with the twins helping them go into the castle. Rarity looked rather sad watching them go. "Rarity?"

Rarity saw Melody Bloom come over and she smiled at her. "Oh hello Melody Bloom. Can I help you?"

"What's wrong?" Melody asked. "You look sad."

"Oh it's...well Shining Star and Dusk Sparkle are moving to Twilight's castle now. I knew this day would come but I just didn't think it would be so soon." Rarity explained. "I got really attached to them."

"Ah, sounds like taking care of children has made your motherly instincts kick in." Melody said.

"Your right, I will miss them living with me." Rarity said. "But as long as their happy, and I'll still see them...just not be able to make them breakfast or tuck them in at night..."

"WHAT!?" Shining Star overheard this and stopped. "But I love your stories mama Rarity!"

"I know." Rarity said putting a hoof on her head and stroking her beautiful rainbow mane. "But your real mother can now do that."

"I hate this..." Dusk said suddenly. "Why do we have to choose our family?"

"Oh sweetie." Rarity took Dusk in a hug. "You don't have to make any choices, I'll always be your here for you two. And no matter what you have friends and family here."

"Yeah, but I don't want to move to another castle again for a long time." Dusk said.

"Don't worry about it so much, just make every day count with your sister and you'll be happy." Rarity said.

Dusk smiled and nodded. "Okay."

It was actually pretty fast move compared to the first time, Twilight just had to use a teleport spell and everything went straight into the room next to her own.

Twilight smiled as the twins came into her castle and smiled. "Girls!"

"Mommy!" They said in unison and hugged her.

"I'm so glad you girls can live with me now!" Twilight said hugging them tightly.

"Mom...a little...less love...please?" Dusk said feeling squished.

"Oh Sorry." Twilight said letting them go. "I'm just so excited!"

"So are we mom!" Shining Star said.

Twilight took the girls upstairs to show them their new room and Melody noticed Rarity leaving. "Rarity? Aren't you going to join them?"

"No. Twilight's been looking forward to this for awhile now. I want her to build memories of her and her kids on her own." Rarity explained.

"That's sweet." Melody said. "I don't think I'll ever know what it's like to have a child."

"Why is that dear?" Rarity asked.

"Because who would want to get with a four thousand year old mare like me?" Melody said jokingly.

"You are not actually that age you know? Your as young as we are, with a lot more knowledge of course." Rarity said.

"Your right, maybe I'll find someone someday." Melody said happily.

"Don't worry about it so much." Rarity said.

"So what happens now?" Melody asked.

"What do you mean?" Rarity looked at her confused.

"I mean with Twilight no longer a princess and everything, what's going to happen?" Melody said.

"That...is a good question." Rarity agreed. "But right now, let's just let Twilight have her time with the twins."

Shining Star watched as Dusk and Twilight got everything settled in. she went out to the balcony hearing a voice. "Staaar."

Shining Star looked around and felt the voice coming from what she believed was the Crystal Empire. Mostly from the books she read. "Staaar."

"Hello?" Shining Star tried to speak to the voice. "That's weird.."

"What is?" Dusk Sparkle came over to her.

"I thought I heard someone's voice call my name." Shining Star explained. As she did this the twins noticed Cadance and her family walk up to the door.

"Twilight?" Cadance called out as she knocked on the door. With her was Shining Armor, their foal Flurry Heart and a child that looked around their age. She was a unicorn with a snow white like mane and tail. Her coat was pink and she had blue eyes.

Twilight smiled and came over to the balcony. "Come in!"

They let themselves in and Dusk Sparkle looked at her mother confused. "Mommy? Do you know them?"

"Of course, they are my brother's family. Come on. I'll introduce you both." Twilight said taking them downstairs where Shining Armor waited for them.

"Hey there Twiliy we missed see you outside of work." Shining Armor said giving her a hug.

"Well I'm glad you could come over." Twilight said. "Now come meet your nieces Shining Armor."

He looked over at the twins and smiled. "It's nice to finally meet you girls. I'm Shining Armor. King of the Crystal Empire, over there is my wife Cadance and our two little ones Flurry Heart and Glitter Heart."

"Gah, it's Sparkleswirl…" The pink filly said annoyed.

"Hello!" The twins said in unison. I'm Shining Star and I'm Dusk Sparkle! Together we're...um...Shining Star and Dusk Sparkle. Hahaha!"

"You have some cute kids here Twilight." Cadance said happily as she rocked the cradle she had with her which had a sleeping Flurry Heart. "It's so nice to meet you two."

"So...Twilight? Can we talk? This whole thing about you quitting being the princess of friendship. Is that want you really want?" Shining Armor asked.

Twilight rolled her eyes at this. "Look Shining Armor, I just need some time to think about everything that happened. I haven't even gotten my fillies settled in yet."

"I understand." Shining Armor nodded. "But you are the best when it comes to keeping the world safe."

"No. your wrong." Twilight said. "I'm just one of the best. My friends did it as much as I did, the only reason I became an alicorn was because Celestia wanted a strong tool for the job. Me being an alicorn didn't change who I was or anything like that, it just gave me wings for crying out loud."

Cadance sighed at this. "So we can't talk you back into it huh?"

"Well...to be honest...no." Twilight admitted. "And looking at your family brother...I know this is the right path. I mean look at your older daughter Glitter Heart. She honestly hates you two because you put your duties ahead of her and didn't even tell anyone about her, with Flurry Heart being such a big deal I can see why she's so hurt over it."

"I honestly wish we had time." Shining Armor admitted. "But with our work, that just doesn't happen."

"Sunburst mostly takes care of Flurry Heart..." Cadance added.

"See? I love Rarity, but she was raising MY children because I was so busy all the time." Twilight pointed out. "After learning about the lies, the reasons behind why I was picked to be Celestia's pupil. Everything. This is my choice. My first one in a long time."

Shining Armor and Cadance looked at each other and back at Twilight. "If that's what you want Twilight."

"Thank you for understanding." Twilight smiled.

Upstairs Shining Star and Dusk Sparkle were talking to Sparkleswirl. "So Sparkleswirl, how come you are a unicorn and not a alicorn like your mom?"

Sparkleswirl looked at them annoyed. "I don't know..."

"Are you okay? You seem...what's that word? Moody?" Dusk pointed out concerned.

"If moody means hate for my family then sure I'm moody." Sparkleswirl countered.

"Hate your family? Why would you hate them?" Shining Star asked. "From what we learned family is important and good to have."

"Sure, if you believe that sort of thing." Sparkleswirl said. "But your parents don't ignore you or make you feel like your nothing."

"Actually..." Shining Star said with a frown. "We do know what it's like. We didn't even have family until recently, when we found out who our parents were it didn't really change much. Our hatchery mother wanted to kill us for our magic, our princess mother Celestia wants nothing to do with us, she hates us. And then mother Twilight was always busy. But Twilight made time for us."

"She's right, Twilight has shown love for us several times and she even gave up her title for us." Dusk Sparkle pointed out.

"You two are lucky, at least you have someone. Although the rest seemed really bad." Sparkleswirl admitted.

Shining Star smiled and gave her a hug. Sparkleswirl looked at her confused but she felt her chest warm a little. "What are you doing?"

"Giving you a hug silly, haven't you had one before?" Shining Star asked.

"Not that I remember." Sparkleswirl said. "But..it feels nice."

"Me too!" Dusk Sparkle jumped in and hugged them both. The girls flopped to the floor and giggled.

"Hey want to be friends?" Shining Star asked as they laid on the floor.

"You really want to be friends with me?" Sparkleswirl asked. "But, we don't really know each other."

"So?" Dusk Sparkle asked. "We're friends with mama Rarity's sister and her friends and we barely know them."

"Plus we're family, I think we're called cousins." Dusk Sparkle said.

"Well...okay! That sounds fun." Sparkleswirl said bringing a smile to her face.

"You have a beautiful smile Sparkleswirl." Shining Star pointed out. "You should do it more!"

Sparkleswirl blushed at this and Dusk spoke up. "So how about we go play?"

"Play what?" Sparkleswirl asked.

"You want to play with magic!?" Shining Star asked. "I love playing games with magic!"

"Yeah!" Dusk and Shining Star said together and grabbed Sparkleswirl before dashing off into the next room.

They went into Twilight's lab and noticed the large mirror that seemed to be glowing. "What's that?" Sparkleswirl asked.

"I have no idea." Dusk said going over to it. "But it looks like we can play with it!"

"Are you sure? Maybe we should ask mom if it's okay." Shining Star said going over to it and putting her hoof on the mirror.

Her hoof went right through it and she felt like it was some sort of thin light she could touch. "Wooooowww!"

"Your hoof went through the mirror!? Cool!" Dusk said before doing the same.

"Let's go all the way in!" Shining Star said getting excited.

"Well...I'm game." Sparkleswirl said. "Let's just be careful okay?"

"You worry to much." Dusk said before she and Shining Star went through the portal.

Sparkleswirl sighed and followed them in. there was a rainbow colored light for a few seconds and suddenly she was standing in front of a large building. Shining Star looked around and noticed she was standing on two legs. "What the?"

Shining Star also noticed she was wearing clothes. She didn't remember putting anything on, her clothes were a sleeveless shirt, a plated skirt and some large boots. Her shirt had her cutie mark on it and she realized her tail was missing. "What is this!? My tail is gone!"

"So are your wings and horn!" Dusk Sparkle said. "And mine!"

Dusk Sparkle had a jacket with her cutie mark on it, a pair of short pants with a skirt and a pair of boots like hers. Their outfits matched due to the fact they were twins. At least for the most part. Sparkleswirl still had her glasses and now she was wearing a plain T shirt and pants with her large boots.

"What is going on here?" Shining Star asked looking at her strange new body. She had weird looking hooves that split into five parts she could move individually. "What happened to my hooves!?"

"Oh no! Your Hoofacure is gone!" Dusk Sparkle said more concerned about their little problems then where they were at or why they had clothes.

"This is like a whole other world." Sparkleswirl said adjusting her glasses and looking around. She noticed they were at a school and there was a lot of these strange creatures around.

"Well other then the loss of my hoofacure. This is neat!" Shining Star said trying to take a step and fell on her face. "Oof!"

"Are you okay?" Dusk asked trying to help her up but her weird new hooves couldn't grab her and her magic didn't work. "Oh, sorry I can't use these things."

Shining Star got up and tried to balance herself. "Ooohhh, I..I think I got this...oh boy."

Just like flying she managed to get her legs working for her and was able to walk as if she had been doing it forever ago. Dusk Sparkle smiled at this and joined her in walking in a circle around the strange pony statue. "Neato! I think I could get used to this!"

"Aren't you two freaked out about this!?" Sparkleswirl asked in a panic. "We're in another world!"

"And?" Shining Star asked. "This is cool, why didn't mommy tell us she had a portal to another world!?"

"Let's go look around, this will be a great adventure!" Dusk Sparkle added.

The twins dashed into the building and watched all the strange creatures walk from room to room, standing around some lockers and talking, they all looked like teenagers, which they didn't know how they acted so they were just enjoying the odd scene.

"Hey sister? Do you see? This place without magic, it's amazing!" Shining Star spoke before breaking out into a song. "This magical none magical place. Strange creatures and smiles abound."

Dusk looked at her as she sang, she didn't know why she did that but she knew that Twilight loved to sing so it was most likely genetic. She shrugged and joined in.

Sparkleswirl watched them sing and just sighed. She then heard a voice from behind her. "Who sings in the hallway?"

She turned around and saw Twilight Sparkle looking at the twins confused. Sparkleswirl knew what Twilight looked like and she was basically it but her hair was tied back into a bun, a messy one at that. She also had glasses. Twilight didn't own glasses.

"Auntie?" Sparkleswirl asked.

"Huh?" The Twilight lookalike looked at her confused. "And who meant you be?"

"Uh...it's me, Sparkleswirl." Sparkleswirl pointed out.

"I'm sorry, I don't know you." She said with a shrug.

Sparkleswirl thought about it. "Then how about...Glitter Heart?"

"Glitter Heart? Oh my little niece from my brother's family? I thought you were getting ready for Crystal prep studies." The Twilight lookalike said.

"What's that?" Sparkleswirl asked.

"Hm.." Twilight looked at her and then smiled. "Wait, you are from Equestria?"

"What do you mean?" Sparkleswirl looked more lost.

"You must be Glitter Heart from another world, did you dye your hair?" Twilight pointed out confused about her look. "Did something happen?"

"So...in this other world, there are other versions of us? I can't believe there are other worlds like this." Sparkleswirl said.

"Trust me, I know the feeling." Twilight said. "I didn't know there was another me that was a princess."

Twilight smiled and sat with her as the twins suddenly had backup singers and dancers. Sparkleswirl had no idea how they managed that but she wanted to ignore it. She wasn't the singing type. "I didn't ask to be born...they had me just to ignore me."

"You know? When you were born they had me babysit you. They wanted to be there for you. But they were always just so busy. Working all the time like they do, but they work so hard because they want to make sure you and your little sister grow up happily." Twilight explained.

"I don't believe that, each time I tried to be near them they just walked away from me." Sparkleswirl said. "I know I don't matter to them, I've accepted that."

"I know my brother, he loves you more then anything." Twilight said putting an arm around her shoulder. "Remember this?"

Twilight rested Sparkleswirl against her side. Sparkleswirl felt a strange warm feeling that she didn't feel in a long time. "You know...I think I do..."

"This is something I used to do when you were cold or lonely. Holding you close was always something I enjoyed doing this all the time." Twilight smiled. "I know it's hard, but just give them a chance okay? And can I just say, your name Sparkleswirl, is a little silly."

"It is?" Sparkleswirl asked. "But I thought it was good."

"It's fine, but I like your real name." Twilight pointed out. "Glitter Heart."

Sparkleswirl thought about it and nodded. "Okay, I'll try…you know? Those two singing are really lucky."

"What makes you say that?" Twilight looked at her confused.

"Well Shining Star and Dusk Sparkle are your children and they seem really happy." Glitter Heart pointed out.

"I have kids!?" Twilight asked shocked.

"Oh right, uh...the other you does." Glitter Heart explained.

"Oh wow..." Twilight was still shocked.

Shining Star and Dusk Sparkle came walking over to them. Shining Star noticed Twilight and gave her a hug. "Hi mom!"

"I uh...hi?" Twilight looked more lost then before.

"Sis, she isn't the same mom. She's another one, from this world." Dusk Sparkle explained.

"I know, but she's still our mom no matter what universe!" Shining Star added.

Twilight couldn't help but smile from that. "Well thank you Dusk Sparkle, that's sweet."

"I'm Shining Star." Shining Star pointed out.

"Oh sorry about that." Twilight blushed.

"It's fine." Shining Star said.

"So you two are my other's kids?" Twilight asked. "Who did she marry?"

"Nobody." Dusk said. "We were born from an evil pony eating bug demon hatchery using the last elements of harmony powers."

"Wait what!?" Twilight jumped up from this.

"You said. Or I mean mommy said that it was okay because even if we are rejects we're still family, our DNA proves it." Shining Star added.

"I have to test this." Twilight said. "Can I get a sample from you two?"

"What kind?" Dusk asked.

"How about a little hair?" Twilight said before plucking a tiny hair from both of them. "I'll get to work on this, boy I wonder what Sunset will think."

Twilight then dashed off in her own little world. The twins looked at each other and then at Glitter Heart. "So your real name is Glitter Heart huh?"

"You overheard us?" Glitter Heart asked. "But you were singing."

"So?" Shining Star looked at her as if it should be obvious.

"Nevermind. Ether way because of that talk I feel so much better. Now can we go home?" Glitter Heart admitted.

"Not just yet you three." A voice came from around the corner.

"Huh?" The twins looked over and saw Sunset Shimmer, she was a very beautiful red head and even had the same kind of vibe they got from their Twilight. "Who are you?"

"I'm Sunset Shimmer and I saw you girls come from the portal, I'm from Equestria myself so I want to know why you are here." Sunset explained.

"We just walked in a mirror in our mommy's lab." Shining Star explained.

"Listen going into the portal isn't something you can just...do. What would happen if you run into your other selves?" Sunset asked.

"Wait, do we have other selves?" Dusk asked.

"Well they could have a Chrysalis and she could have given birth to you." Glitter Heart added.

"But we weren't quote end quote "Born" silly." Shining Star said.

"Wait, what do you mean?" Sunset asked. "Time to explain girls."

Shining Star and Dusk took a deep breath and explained how they were born, Sunset sat down and listened she didn't know what to think about everything they explained. "So Twilight, Celestia AND Chrysalis are your parents?"

"And thanks to the elements of harmony we were born from pods." Dusk explained.

"So...the elements in Equestria are gone?" Sunset asked still processing everything.

"No." Shining Star added. "We are the elements because all their magic went into birthing us. At least that's what mommy told us."

"I see." Sunset pondered. "If that's the case...you two are very special. I want to study how special if I could."

"Mommy said the same thing!" Dusk Sparkle said. "She poked us a lot with sharp things!"

"Is that normal?" Sunset asked.

"At first sure." Shining Star said. "But mommy stopped after she realized we're family."

"Sounds like Twilight." Sunset admitted with a smile. "Does Twilight know you three are here?"

"Uh...no." Glitter Heart said.

"Well maybe you should go back and bring Twilight with you." Sunset said.

"She's busy talking to Starlight's family." Dusk said.

"Well then how about I come with you? It's been a long time since I talked to that Twilight." Sunset admitted.

"Sounds like fun!" Shining Star said.

They all got up and went back to the statue, each one going through the portal back to Equestria.


	5. Chapter 5

Twilight was spending time with Shining Armor, both of them just looking out on the balcony. Shining Armor didn't know what to say so he just had to speak his mind. "I know I sound like a broken record, but don't you think quitting being a princess was a bad idea? You did so many good things, helped change things for the better."

"What did I change?" Twilight looked at him confused. "Everything I ever did was a lie."

"I know you feel that way, but you earned your title." Shining Armor explained.

"Celestia said that before. Look I know your trying to get me to go back. But I can't do that." Twilight sighed. "Maybe leaving was a mistake, but I feel better knowing I'm in control of myself."

Shining Armor knew that she was hurt but he never saw her like this before. "Well, at least come back to Canterlot to help with what just happened."

"You...have a point." Twilight nodded. "I left Serenity and Paradise alone...they probably think they have nobody on their side. I need to go and fix Starswirl the bearded's mistake."

As they were talking Cadance was looking after Flurry Heart and wanted to see the castle more then she ever had before. She went around and found the twins room. It was really frilly and girly. Twilight made it pink and there was stuffed animals. "Wow Twilight, even I'm not this bad."

Flurry Heart on the other hand was excited. "Oooohhh!"

"We shouldn't play with other people's things, these are for your cousins." Cadance said pulling Flurry Heart away.

Flurry Heart used her magic to lift a purple stuffed bear with a rainbow on it's stomach. "Caaa...baaa!"

Cadance just smiled and let her keep the bear, she wanted to see more. She went to another room that was actually Starlight's. There was books here and there but for the most part it was empty, almost like she wasn't planning on staying. "That's odd, there isn't much here."

"Gaaba?" Flurry Heart looked at her mother confused.

"Your probably right, starting a life over like she did would have been a big step. It's not crazy to believe she didn't take anything she once owned." Cadance admitted before going to the next room.

Cadance went to Melody Bloom's room next. She opened the door and saw a ton of weird things. There was liquid in jars and strange monster parts in them, eyeballs and ears. Hearts and lungs, even scales. "This is….creepy..."

Cadance noticed an open book and went over to it. She read it out loud. "Journal entry 46. once again I find myself curious about the wildlife in this age. I must admit that finding parts without killing the subject is different for me but at least I can do my studies."

Flurry Heart was busy looking at a strange bottle of what looked like glitter. "Gaa!"

Cadance kept on reading. "Journal entry 50. my magic is growing. I finally did it. I didn't just grow a plant. I gave one the ability to think."

Cadance stopped and bit her lower lip a little. "Melody Bloom...what have you done?"

Cadance turned the pages more and found another entry. "Let's see. The flower moved and is acting like it lives. It even started to eat little insects. Things are getting interesting."

Flurry Heart touched the jar of glitter and it swirled a little. "Oooohh!"

"Oh here is the last entry she put down. The flower...spoke, it talked to me but then it left. I don't know where it went...and it's worrying." Cadance finished. "This is weird. How did she do something like this?"

Flurry Heart touched the jar again and it tipped over and hit the floor shattering the jar and releasing the strange glitter on the floor. "Oo….gaba..."

"Flurry!?" Cadance put down the book and went over to her baby. "Are you okay? What was that?"

"Oh great." Cadance heard a voice come from the door and she noticed it was Melody Bloom. "Thanks for looking through my things."

"I'm sorry Melody Bloom, we were just keeping busy and got caught up in looking around..." Cadance admitted.

"It's fine." Melody said using her magic to clean up the mess Flurry Heart made. "My unicorn dust, that was hard to get."

"Unicorn dust?" Cadance looked at her concerned.

"Yeah, it's ground up unicorn horn." Melody explained. "It does wonders for magical needs."

Cadance looked grossed out from this. "You...grind up unicorn horns?"

"Sometimes, but mostly I just order it." Melody said. "Why? Do you think I'm some sick weirdo?"

"That sort of crossed my mind...yes." Cadance admitted. "But what about that plant in your journal?"

"That plant? That was a project that went sour." Melody explained. "That flower ran after I wanted to cut it open to find out how it ticked...oh well."

"You...scare me Melody." Cadance said taking her baby and stepping out of the room. "Sorry about the mess again."

"It's okay." Melody said using her magic to clean it all up and getting a new jar. "It's nice to see you again."

Cadance looked at her. "Really? You usually never talk to me, I just assumed you hated me."

"I never hated you. I normally just kept to myself." Melody admitted.

"Oh, well maybe we can get together sometime and chat?" Cadance asked.

"Sure, I'm doing some studies on pegasi wings later." Melody explained. "But I can take a break and talk."

"Sounds great." Cadance said before leaving with Flurry Heart.

The twins and Glitter Heart came through the portal with Sunset Shimmer, it had been a long time since she came to Equestria. She was nervous but she wanted to share her ideas with Twilight.

"Mom!" Shining Star called out and walked into the hallway. "We're back from another uni...uni...uh..school!"

"It's actually universe." Sunset corrected her.

"Oh sorry, we don't know a lot of big words yet." Dusk admitted.

"It's fine, from what you told me you two are only a couple of months old." Sunset said.

"Mom!?" Shining Star rushed over to Twilight. "We found a friend of yours!"

"A friend?" Twilight asked confused before she saw Sunset walk in with Dusk. "Sunset!?"

"Hey Twilight, it's been awhile." Sunset said with a smile.

"Sunset, what are you doing here?" Twilight questioned. "I mean it's great to see you but why are you here?"

"Well your children came to the human world so I brought them back." Sunset explained.

"You girls went through the portal!?" Twilight jumped and grabbed them with her magic and put them in front of her. "You can't just go through magical portals, you could have been hurt!"

"We were just playing with Glitter Heart." Shining Star admitted. "We didn't mean to cause any worry."

"Well thank you Sunset for bringing them back." Twilight said taking a sigh of relief.

"Actually I wanted to talk to you about them." Sunset said.

"Oh?" Twilight cocked her head.

"Well first is it true they were born from changelings and the elements?" Sunset asked.

"Yes, it's true. But they are nothing like the changelings." Twilight admitted.

"These girls really are special then." Sunset nodded. "I would love to study their magic sometime."

"Well we're pretty busy. I just moved them in, all I need now is to home school them." Twilight said.

"Actually mom?" Dusk spoke up. "Can we go to their human school? It looks really fun and they love to sing and we could learn from there."

"Please!? We like it there, people don't treat us like weirdos there." Shining Star added. "We look like them and there are no villains."

Twilight thought about it, they had points. If she let them go they would only be a portal away. They would make new friends and they would feel like they belonged. She smiled and nodded. "We can try a trial period girls. But please don't give up on making friends in our own world."

Dusk nodded but Shining Star didn't know what to think. She nodded after thinking about it. "Okay."

Glitter Heart looked around and saw her mother Cadance with her baby sister. "Mom?"

"Sparkleswirl? Where have you been?" Cadance asked.

"When I was a baby….you ignored me, you and dad never took any time for me. I might sound selfish for wanting your attention. I mean your a princess and I'm just some…unicorn. I know Flurry Heart is your favorite. And I'm sorry to say...but I don't love you. Twilight was more of a mother to me then you." Glitter Heart explained.

Cadance's heart broke when she heard that. She held back her tears as best she could. "O-oh..."

"I'm not finished." Glitter Heart said before she sighed. "Even though with everything you did to me...or in this case didn't do. I still love you, I mean you are my mom after all."

She then hugged Cadance making Cadance smile. "Glitter?"

Cadance hugged her back and kissed her head. It felt nice to Glitter Heart. "Thank you for giving me another chance sweetheart."

"Oh I need to go check in with Shining Armor. We have to go soon or Sunburst gets worried." Cadance said before leaving. Leaving her two children behind.

When she was gone Glitter Heart rolled her eyes. Why did she care about what some guy they just met like that? She looked over at Flurry Heart. "Listen sis. You might have their love all to yourself right now, but I'll take it back. I'll win their love and then I'll be the princess everyone loves. Instead of you."

The baby just looked at her and held her arms up to her. "Gaaba!"

"Don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about." Glitter Heart said and then they went off to join the others.

Shining Armor hugged Twilight. "Listen. Don't give up, if the rules are so bad...then it's up to you to fix them."

Twilight thought about it and nodded. "We'll see."

Cadance walked in. "Hey Shining? We need to get back to the Chrystal Empire."

"Oh right, Well it was nice to visit with you Twiliy. And it was great to see your children." Shining Armor said. "And you as well Ms. Shimmer."

Sunset smiled at this and Cadance looked at Shining Armor a little annoyed. "Come on Shining. You can gawk at girls back home."

"I'll come by and visit you all when I can. I have a lot of work to do before I can visit though." Twilight admitted.

Cadance and Twilight hugged and Glitter Heart stepped in next to Shining Star and Dusk Sparkle. "Our parents are silly aren't they?"

"I think that's just what an adult does." Shining Star admitted.

"Seems like it." Dusk added. "They don't know what they want."

"I hope we never grow up." Glitter Heart said. "If I ever get old enough and have fillies of my own, I would never ignore them."

Dusk and Star looked at her and Shining Armor and Cadance walked over to them. "Come on girls. It's time to go."

Glitter Heart smiled and jumped on Shining Armor's back. "Carry me daddy!?"

"Glitter? You normally hate being around us...sure kiddo why not?" Shining Armor smiled at his eldest daughter and Cadance grabbed Flurry Heart with her magic and they walked out of the castle. Along the way Glitter Heart stuck her tongue out at Flurry Heart.

"Those two are going to have a lot of problems when Flurry Heart gets a little older." Dusk Sparkle said.

"That or they will form a great sisterly bond and fix whatever problems they have." Shining Star said happily.

"You have a point sis." Dusk said with a nod. "So what do we do now?"

"We need to go to the human world and sign you two up for school." Twilight pointed out.

Sunset nodded. "Well I need to get back myself. Let's go."

Then the four of them went back into the human world. Twilight went straight to Celestia's office and Greeted her. "Hello Celestia"

Celestia looked up from her papers and smiled. "Oh Twilight, it's been a long time. Why don't you ever visit anymore?"

"Mainly because I don't want to make it confusing for the other me like last time." Twilight admitted. "But that's not important, I have two students I would like to enroll in your school."

"You want to enroll students from another world in my school?" Celestia asked confused. "This is rather unexpected, and very big. It's not everyday we get students from another world and you want them to be here for how long?"

"As long as needed, my daughters need a place to feel normal." Twilight explained.

"Daughters? You have children? At your age?" Celestia raised an eyebrow.

"It's a long story." Twilight answered. "To make it short a monster called a changeling in our world stole our elements and used mine and your DNA with her own and made them in pods. So I didn't birth them but they are my children."

Celestia looked at her even more lost, but she was smart so her brain worked through it. "So...these children are products of DNA taken from you, me and a few other things...so let me get this straight. The elements of harmony the one you worked so hard for to get back from Sunset were all used up making children to try and make tools to conquer your world but it backfired and made little alicorns like yourself and the other me….is that about right?"

Twilight looked at her and nodded. "Ye-yeah, you got that completely right, wow."

"Well in that case...I accept!" Celestia said happily.

"Really?" Twilight smiled at this, she didn't think it would be this easy.

Celestia took out some forms and started to write in it. "So can I meet them?"

"Of course, girls?" Twilight called out. Then the twins walked in. "Celestia. These are Shining Star and Dusk Sparkle."

the human Celestia smiled at this. "Well welcome to our school little ones. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"She's a lot nicer then our mom back in our world." Shining Star said to Dusk.

"I can believe that." Dusk added.

"Listen girls, I want you to treat everyone here as you would want to be treated. So be nice and have fun." Twilight said. "If anything happens come home right away, I'm just a portal away."

Celestia finished the forms and put the forms in front of Twilight. "If you could sign this we'll be set."

"Uh...I can't really...use these..." Twilight said motioning to her hands.

"Oh right." Celestia pondered. "Oh I know."

She then put a finger on the speaker. "Well Twilight Sparkle please come to my office."

Celestia then turned to the twins. "So little ones. You two are my children from another world?"

"Yes..." Shining Star said looking away from her.

"Sorry other mommy, mommy Celestia really hurt Shining Star earlier." Dusk explained.

"I'm sorry to hear that." Celestia said. "But I hope you will enjoy being here."

"We will!" Dusk answered and Shining Star nodded.

The other Twilight soon came in. "I'm here Celestia. What is it?"

"I need you to sign these forms for Twilight." Celestia pointed out. "It's just to get Twilight's...uh...your children to attend school."

Human Twilight looked at the twins and Twilight. "Still can't write huh?"

"Well I don't live here." Twilight pointed out.

Human Twilight nodded and signed the paper for Twilight. "I have a lot of questions about this."

"Don't worry. Since their my children I can make sure everything is worked out." Celestia said sitting back down. "Thank you for coming."

Twilight and Human Twilight stepped out with the twins and saw Sunset waiting for them. "So how did it go?"

"Their in!" Twilight said happily. "So tomorrow they will start school here."

"Great! Come on Twilight we have class." Sunset said.

Twilight nodded and they walked way. Twilight and her twins then headed for the portal when Twilight heard a voice behind her. "Hey Twilight!"

Twilight looked back and saw Flash Sentry come over to her. "You haven't been around lately. I've missed you."

"Oh hey Flash, I'm sorry but I'm really busy." Twilight explained.

"Oh yeah? And who are these two?" Flash asked. "I haven't seen them before."

"Oh they are my children." Twilight said happily.

"Wait, you have kids!?" Flash looked at her shocked. "How come you didn't tell me?"

"Oh no it's not like that Flash. It's a long story." Twilight was quick to explain. "It's a magical thing."

"Oh...you'll have to tell me about it when you get a chance." Flash said.

"Trust me, I would love to tell you everything but right now I have a lot on my plate." Twilight explained.

"Okay, I'll see you later then." Flash said before leaving.

"Who was that?" Shining Star asked.

"Oh! Oh! I know this one" Dusk Sparkle said excitedly. "He is her boyfriend!"

"Oooohhhh!" Shining Star awed at this.

"Girls! He isn't my boyfriend, we aren't even the same species." Twilight pointed out. "Besides Flash has the other Twilight around now."

The three girls then walked back through the portal and back to Twilight's castle. Shining Star then heard the strange voice again right when they got back. "Star."

"Huh?" Shining Star looked around and Dusk bumped her breaking her focus.

"Hey Shining Star?" Dusk asked.

"Yeah?" Shining Star looked at her twin confused.

"Do you want to go out into town?" Dusk continued. "I want to go see the town, but just the two of us."

"I don't know if I like that girls. All the other times you two have been alone you got hurt." Twilight said.

"Oh come on mom, it's just around town. And all of your friends will be around, we'll be safe around them." Dusk Sparkle pointed out.

Twilight sighed and nodded. "That's true. Okay then girls. But I have to go back to Canterlot. I need to fix things between Serenity and Celestia. Take Spike with you so I know you two will at least be okay."

"Okay, we'll take the dragon." Dusk Said. "I guess."

"Good, now be good okay?" Twilight said before she kissed their foreheads and headed off.

"Spike!?" Shining Star called out.

Spike walked in with a large bucket of gems that looked like popcorn. "What is it?"

"We're going out, and that means you have to watch us." Dusk explained. "So get your pants on and let's go!"

Spike looked at her confused. "What are pants?"

"Something we learned in the human world. Boys wear it." Shining Star explained.

"Sounds weird. But I was going to read my comics." Spike said. "Can't we do this tomorrow or something?"

"Nope, we've got a date and you just became the third wheel!" Dusk Said. "So come on!"

"Wait..date?" Spike looked at them confused as they walked out of the castle.

"Okay so what do you want to do first Dusk?" Shining Star asked.

"Hmm, Sugarcube corner first!" Dusk said as the three of the walked.

"Oh man...I could be reading another action packed power ponies issue." Spike mumbled to himself.

They went into the Sugarcube corner and saw Pinkie behind the corner eating frosting from some tube. "Mmmm!"

"Mama Pinkie!" Shining Star and Dusk said in unison and went over to the counter.

"Mmmmm~!" Pinkie said with her mouth full of frosting.

"Can we get two chocolate shakes and um..tarts?" Shining Star looked at the menu.

"No, no." Dusk said pointing out an item on the menu called a double princess delight. "I was thinking of this one. What is it?"

Pinkie swallowed the frosting and licked her lips feeling pleased with herself. "You want that!?"

"Yeah, is that weird?" Dusk nodded.

"Silly filly. That's a couples treat, it's meant for ponies on dates." Pinkie said.

"Oohh! Then we'll take that." Shining Star said excitedly. "That's what we're on!"

"Aww! A sister date. I remember when me and Maud would do that." Pinkie said happily and brought out a large sundae bowl, it had a large amount of rainbow ice cream and sprinkles topped with hot fudge candy bits and there was tiny mints and cookies lined up around it. All on top of a waffle cone in the bowl. "Enjoy girls!"

Spike looked at that and licked his lips. "That looks..amazing..."

Shining Star and Dusk Sparkle took it to a table and sat across each other. Pinkie took out a sapphire cup cake and gave it to Spike. "Did you hear them Spike? Their on a date. So cute."

"I thought dates were meant to be a romantic thing." Spike questioned before he ate his cup cake.

"Silly Spike. A date is just a way to bond. You can do that with anyone." Pinkie explained.

"Oh okay." Spike nodded. "So why is that called the princess delight?"

"It's on honer of the new princesses..them!" Pinkie pointed to the twins. "Mrs. Cake wanted to do something special for them."

"Where is Mrs. Cake anyway?" Spike asked.

"She had to go out shopping." Pinkie said. "But she forgot to lock up the frosting Cabinet. Yummy yummy frosting~"

Spike looked at her a little freaked out. "Uh...okay?"

Shining Star and Dusk happily enjoyed their sundae delight. "Mmmm! Yum!"

Shining Star took a large spoonful and ate it getting some ice cream on her face. Dusk giggled at this. "Sis you got ice cream on your face."

"Oh?" Shining Star tried to wipe it off but missed. "Did I get it?"

"No, here let me." Dusk leaned in and licked the ice cream off her cheek making Shining Star blush. "Yum."

"Oh my..." Pinkie said and looked at Spike. "Okay that isn't part of a sister date."

Shining Star giggled and smiled. "Thanks sis!"

"Anytime." Dusk said getting back to her dessert.

They both then dug into the food. Pinkie and Spike just watched and Pinkie then realized something. "Wait a minute….they called me mama!"

Spike just looked at her confused and rolled his eyes, it took her longer then he thought she would take to get it.


	6. Chapter 6

Rainbow Dash stretched her wings, she was bored and needed to do something. She was about to leave her home when there was a knock on the door. She opened the door and saw Fluttershy there. "Fluttershy?"

"Hey Rainbow Dash, can we talk?" Fluttershy asked.

"Sure. What is it?" Rainbow Dash let her in.

"I got a really bad feeling, something in the air is making me feel...off." Fluttershy admitted. "Oh and your mail got mixed up with mine...again."

Fluttershy gave Rainbow Dash a couple letters. Rainbow Dash looked at her letters and two of them was letters from the wonderbolts. "Let's see...oh wow! Spitfire wants me to meet a famous wonderbolt. That's odd, I thought I met them all already."

"What's the other one say?" Fluttershy asked.

Rainbow Dash opened it and looked it over. "That's odd...it's an invite to join the wonderbolt. But I'm already in."

Rainbow Dash looked at the letter and realized it was addressed to Fluttershy. "What the? This is yours Fluttershy. You got in the wonderbolts!?"

"Huh? I never even signed up." Fluttershy pointed out confused. "Why would I get a letter for that?"

"Well...how about we go to the academy together and figure this out." Rainbow Dash said. "With everything that's been going on with Twilight and her kids I haven't been able to do much of my own thing."

They then went flying to the academy and Fluttershy noticed Cadance and her family leaving Twilight's castle. It only took a couple minutes before they got there. They noticed Spitfire barking orders at some new trainees.

"Get moving! You call that speed!? Come on!" Spitfire shouted making it seem like she was actually spitting fire.

"Oh my..." Fluttershy looked scared and Rainbow Dash landed next to Spitfire.

"Hey there Spitfire. I got the letter you sent." Rainbow Dash said.

"Rainbow Dash? Great to see you." Spitfire turned to her and smiled. "Did your friend get the letter I sent as well?"

"Who Fluttershy?" Rainbow Dash almost laughed. "She's not wonderbolt material."

"That's not your decision Rainbow, besides what your here for is to meet a friend of mine." Spitfire explained.

Fluttershy landed feeling out of place there. "Um..."

"Oh there she is. Fluttershy it's good to see you again." Spitfire said going over to her. "Listen, normally this doesn't happen but my superiors went over your records and found out you've been hiding your skills."

"I have?" Fluttershy looked confused. "I'm one of the worst flyers though."

"True most of your record is poor. But there are some parts where you shined and they want to see where you can go with that." Spitfire explained. "So I'll be hanging around you all day and testing you."

"Oh dear...I don't know if my animal friends will like that." Fluttershy said.

"Fluttershy? Your a pegasus. And this job actually pays unlike that watching over wild animals. Do you really want to be a care taker to dirty animals the rest of your life being completely ignored? Or do you want to be somepony?" Spitfire pointed out.

"Oh I'm okay with being a nobody." Fluttershy admitted.

"And that's a problem, your best friend is Rainbow Dash. A girl who can't live without being in the spotlight. Don't you want to get out of her shadow?" Spitfire pointed out.

"I...uh…." Fluttershy didn't know what to say. "I really am okay with it."

Rainbow Dash watched Fluttershy unsure of what to think. Spitfire rolled her eyes. "Listen, I know your shy and you have no reason to prove yourself. But let me ask you something."

"What is it?" Fluttershy asked.

"I want to know what your dream is. What do you want to do with your life?" Spitfire asked..

Fluttershy just lowered her head, she didn't know what to say. She always believed her destiny was an animal care taker. But that wasn't her dream. Unlike her friends she had a different dream from her destiny. She remembered a girl she met some time ago where this mare had time magic but wanted to be a dentist. She managed to fit both her talents and her dreams together.

If she could do that, why couldn't she? Fluttershy could care for her animal friends and do another job on top of it. The animals didn't really need her all that much, she spoiled most of them anyways. Spitfire waited for her answer and Fluttershy spoke. "I want to do more with my life. If starting here is what I need to do to do that then I will."

"That's what I like to hear Fluttershy, I will be coaching you myself so we better get started. But first Rainbow Dash come on." Spitfire said taking the two mares inside.

"Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy. I want you two to meet a good friend of mine." Spitfire said before they went into her office and saw a dark purple pegasi mare with black hair styled into a ponytail she had one white highlight going though her mane and tail and her cutie mark was weird because it was a pair of panties with hearts around it and on it. "Girls? Meet Misty Gale."

"Misty Gale? Isn't that the name of the famous wonderbolt that's one of the best of the best?" Rainbow Dash asked getting excited.

"Hello there!" Misty Gale greeted them. "It's a pleasure."

Fluttershy looked at her cutie mark and remembered something from Twilight's secret library. "Wait...she looks more like that mare Midnight Heart."

"Who's that?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"I don't really know myself but Twilight has videos of her." Fluttershy explained as best she could.

Misty Gale smiled at this. "Actually I go by both names. But please, in public just call me Misty Gale, Midnight Heart is my stage name."

"Stage name? What do you preform?" Fluttershy asked.

"Let's just say...adult shows." Misty Gale said and the changed the subject. "But enough about me. It's a pleasure to meet you Rainbow Dash, I heard all about you from Spitfire here."

Misty Gale shook her hoof and Rainbow Dash grinned happily. "So...awesome!"

"You are on your way Rainbow Dash. I remember being where you are at. You'll be in the big leagues someday." Misty Gale said.

Rainbow Dash's smile only grew from this. "You know it!"

Misty Gale looked over Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy sizing them up. She touched Rainbow Dash's wing and hoof, she looked over her mane and then did the same to Fluttershy. "Well Rainbow Dash, your fast but you can't focus that speed, your wing muscles are strong but your a bit squishy with your hooves, it takes more then wings to be a skilled wonderbolt."

"Really? What else does it take?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"It takes heart silly, and teamwork, from what I heard your a loner." Misty Gale pointed out. "But mostly you got it down."

"Um...what about me?" Fluttershy asked.

"You have…..uh...strong….well you have a strong heart from what I heard. But your body is weak in most areas." Misty Gale said. "Spitfire has her work cut out for her."

"That sounds about right actually." Fluttershy admitted.

"Say Rainbow? You want to fly with me while Spitfire starts with your friend?" Misty Gale asked.

"You bet I do!" Rainbow Dash said before they took off into the air.

"Okay Fluttershy, let's get to work!" Spitfire said dragging Fluttershy to do some tests.

Rainbow Dash watched them as they flew around and Misty Gale noticed this. "You okay?"

"I'm just worried about Fluttershy, she's really not wonderbolt material." Rainbow Dash explained.

"What are you talking about?" Misty Gale asked. "She seems pretty good to me."

"But she isn't a...winner like all the real wonderbolts are." Rainbow Dash pointed out.

"So you believe that in order to be a wonderbolt you have to be a winner huh?" Misty Gale flew around her and pondered. "Well it's true most are fast and strong, better then most in a lot of way. But that's not true for ALL wonderbolts."

"What do you mean?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Well you know the history of the wonderbolts right?" Misty Gale asked and Rainbow Dash nodded. "Then you clearly don't know it all."

"What? I studied for it before. I think I know everything about it." Rainbow Dash claimed.

"Like I said. You don't know it all. I heard about how you passed the test. But one wonderbolt was never talked about. She was always a bit of a klutz, she didn't fly the fastest and she was a clean freak. Her name was Ember Haze." Misty Gale explained. "She was always messing up, she couldn't do anything worthwhile even if she tried. And she did, everyday she worked harder and harder."

"So what made someone like that a wonderbolt?" Rainbow Dash asked. "I mean she sounds worse then Fluttershy."

"It was her determination." Misty Gale pointed out. "She never quit, no matter who laughed at her or gave her a hard time, ponies would call her a loser, failure. And much worse. Even with all that she always smiled and gave it her all. And do you know what that determination finally gave her? To make her truly stand out?"

"No, What happened?" Rainbow Dash asked wanting to know.

"She pulled off the very first Sonic Rainboom." Misty Gale explained. "It was because of her that the world got something so amazing. Now just because she never won some award or anything like that doesn't make her a loser, she proved that even a klutz could make a difference. So your friend Fluttershy could be the next greatest wonderbolt of all time given time."

Rainbow Dash flew over and sat on a cloud. "Seriously? But that's my dream..."

Misty Gale noticed this and sat down next to her. "So what's the real problem? Are you worried for your friend? Or are you worried about not getting all the attention from your heroes?"

"Am I that easy to read?" Rainbow Dash looked at her concerned.

"Why do you care if Spitfire is training your friend? Spitfire has her own friends, are you going to be upset about that?" Misty Gale said a little annoyed.

"No! I'm just...I worked hard to get here and if Fluttershy gets in, then what have I been working so hard for?" Rainbow Dash explained.

"isn't that a little shallow? I would think that an aspect of harmony would be a little more loyal to their friends then that." Misty Gale pointed out.

Rainbow Dash sighed. She knew she was right, but she couldn't help it. "Maybe, but still."

"How about you just wait until something actually happens first?" Misty Gale pointed out.

"Your right, I'm worrying too much. It's not like she'll get in anyway." Rainbow Dash said with a bit of a laugh.

"Come on Fluttershy!" Spitfire shouted. "Move it!"

Fluttershy tried her best to move but she barely managed to get to the goal ring and was already breathing hard. "Haa...haa...I can't do this..."

"Fluttershy, you need to workout more." Spitfire said a little annoyed.

"I'm not good at flying…." Fluttershy admitted panting.

"Then we need to build up your wing muscles. I want you to stop walking and actually USE them." Spitfire said. "Now I want fifty laps in two minutes! GO!"

"Ye-yes ma'am!" Fluttershy flew as best she could. Her best still wasn't good enough as she barely got one lap in a minute.

Misty sighed and flies down to Spitfire. "Hey Spitfire? Can I make a suggestion?"

"If it can do the impossible sure." Spitfire said.

"Instead of treating her like a normal wonderbolt. Why not uses other methods? Use her strengths." Misty suggested.

"Hmmm...well Rainbow Dash did tell me once that Fluttershy moves incredibly fast when her pets are in danger….I have an idea." Spitfire said. She quickly grabbed a cloud and shaped it into a bunny. She smiled and flew back to Misty Gale. "Okay, I'll tell Fluttershy and you fake the noises of a bunny."

"Well I can try." Misty nodded and flew up to the bunny cloud. She messed with it a little and hide in the cloud before using her wings to make the bunny move like it was alive.

Fluttershy finally came back around breathing heavily. "I...I...did...one..."

"Fluttershy! There you are, while you were away something terrible happened!" Spitfire quickly said acting as best she could.

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes, she knew this wasn't going to work. Fluttershy wasn't stupid enough to fall for that.

"What happened?" Fluttershy asked getting worried.

"A bunny is trapped in that thick cloud over there, one wrong move and it'll fall!" Spitfire explained in a hurry. Pointed to the bunny shape on the cloud. "But we're not fast enough. You have to do it!"

Fluttershy looked over at the cloud and gasped. "Oh no! that poor little bunny!"

Rainbow Dash watched her in shock. "She actually BOUGHT that!?"

Misty Gale moved her wings a bit and made the bunny shape on the cloud look like it was about to fall. Fluttershy panicked and flew so fast off the ground it made a sonic boom right next to Spitfire causing her ears to ring, Fluttershy moved so fast even Rainbow Dash couldn't keep up.

Her speed was amazing, she managed to get to the cloud in seconds and grabbed the cloud. She then stopped so suddenly that the air around her created a bubble with her cutie mark on it and shattered the sound barrier making the bubble pop with Fluttershy's pink and gold colors making a large orb in the sky.

Everyone at the academy was so shocked all their jaws dropped. The mare that could barely fly. The number one weakest flyer managed to do something amazing. Spitfire couldn't hear very well right now but her smile was so wide it was creepy. "YES!"

The large orb in the sky was seen by all the nearby towns and Twilight Sparkle who was on her way to Canterlot looked up at the sky and knew that her friend was involved. "Fluttershy?"

Fluttershy noticed that the bunny was just a shaped cloud and she was just confused. "What?"

Fluttershy then realized she was in some sort of orb. "What is this?"

The orb glowed and she looked around it scared. She held the bunny cloud close, she then suddenly felt a surge of power rush into her and her rainbow power suddenly activated. "Oh my goodness!"

"What the!?" Rainbow Dash shouted in shock. "How!?"

her power didn't slow down or weaken at all as the orb soon vanished and she landed in her new form. "I feel...refreshed!"

"You did it!" Spitfire said happily. "Great job!"

"This bunny isn't real..." Fluttershy pointed out. "Why did you lie to me?"

"Well we needed to use your strength. Sorry about the lie but it was needed to bring out your potential." Spitfire admitted.

"Oh, okay." Fluttershy nodded.

"Just look at you, you have your rainbow power! How did you even do that!?" Spitfire said wanting to know how she did it.

Fluttershy noticed Rainbow Dash and Misty Gale land and come up to her. "I...I have no idea."

"You don't know how you managed that?" Misty asked.

"We need to talk about this with Twilight." Rainbow Dash added. "And how are you staying in that form?"

Fluttershy had no idea why she was in her rainbow form or anything like that. "All I know is...I feel more confident!"

"Wait...you were just scared before the event. I think that's it!" Misty pointed out. "Your powers came to you when you got more confident in your flying skills."

"Well I think that settles it, Fluttershy. Welcome to the Wonderbolts!" Spitfire said giving her a badge. Fluttershy looked at it and smiled widely. Rainbow Dash's ears dropped even though this was a happy moment for her friend. "I believe what Misty Gale said, as soon as you believed in yourself your hidden potential came out."

Fluttershy nodded and blushed. "Thank you...for believing in me, especially you Rainbow Dash, I couldn't have done it without your support."

"Uh...ye-yeah...sure." Rainbow Dash said, she knew that it wasn't true. But Fluttershy never doubted her friends, and here she was being jealous.

Misty Gale nudged Rainbow Dash a little. "Yeah, Rainbow Dash never doubted you for a second."

"Come on Fluttershy." Spitfire said. "We have to make this official."

"Okay." Fluttershy smiled and they left.

Misty Gale sighed and looked at Rainbow Dash. "She really cares about what you think of her. If she learned the truth, she would be crushed."

"I already feel bad Misty Gale. Come on." Rainbow Dash pointed out.

"Don't worry, I won't judge you." Misty Gale said. "But if she was my best friend, I would want to celebrate her victory over her fears. But get more upset she showed me up….Ms. Loyalty."

Rainbow Dash nodded and walked away. Misty Gale just shook her head and went into the office with the others. Soon Fluttershy was given her own wonderbolts outfit and she was actually really happy about it. She didn't think she would be this excited. But never really did anything with her life before.

"Now as much as I want you to fly with us...you can't." Spitfire brought up.

"I can't?" Fluttershy looked at her confused.

"Well we're full, our roster got full with Rainbow Dash. So unless someone else retires soon or quits, we simply don't have the room. But we do have a use for you." Spitfire said. "If you want to of course."

"What is it?" Fluttershy asked.

"We need a model for new uniforms ideas and other things." Misty added.

"Oh so like you Misty Gale?" Fluttershy asked innocently.

"Uh...no. More like what you did before." Misty Gale admitted.

Fluttershy realized what she meant and shook her head. "I..I can't..."

"Look, you just did something we all thought impossible." Spitfire said. "And we all know you can sing, Rainbow Dash told us. You could be an amazing singer."

"But I thought I was going to be a wonderbolt someday." Fluttershy questioned.

"Being a Wonderbolt isn't a job silly." Misty Gale pointed out. "We're all just really good flyers and love to have a good time."

Fluttershy finally understood and nodded. "I understand, I think I will take some time to think about what I want to do."

"Good. Come back whenever you feel like it." Spitfire said.

Fluttershy then left and Misty Gale followed her. "Misty?"

"Are you going to Ponyville?" Misty asked.

"Yes I am, why?" Fluttershy nodded.

"Actually I'm going there myself. How about we go together?" Misty Gale said.

"Sure, but I have to find Rainbow Dash first." Fluttershy pointed out.

Rainbow Dash was flying around in a lap trying to get her mind off of what she just saw. She then hit a cloud and spun out of control. "Ah!"

Fluttershy then came out of nowhere and caught her. "You okay Dashie?"

"Fluttershy? Why are you here? Isn't it enough that you took my dream?" Rainbow Dash said annoyed.

"Took your dream?" Fluttershy looked at her confused. "I would never do something like that Rainbow Dash."

"Then how come your so talented? I mean you not only beat my speed record, but you got your rainbow power back. Now your in the wonderbolts like it was nothing." Rainbow Dash said upset.

"Rainbow Dash...I'm surprised at you." Fluttershy said hurt. "I didn't steal anything from you, and I would never dream of it. Yes I'm part of the wonderbolts. But I'm just in the reserves. All the wonderbolts are doing for me is helping me boost my confidence. Now does that sound like I am stealing your dream?"

"….No…." Rainbow Dash admitted. "But...you could easily take my job, and I worked so hard for it!"

"And you REALLY think I would want to steal your childhood dream right out from under you?" Fluttershy asked as a tear went down her cheek. "After everything we went through. Being your childhood friend...you know me better then that, I got a bit more confident, that's all...but if you really feel that I ruined your entire experience as a wonderbolt because of this….I'll leave."

Rainbow Dash was at a loss of words, she felt even worse now that Fluttershy said it. What was she thinking? Fluttershy then flew away, she flew so fast a pink rainboom hit the sky causing sound to shatter around the area and a rainbow followed Fluttershy all the way back to her home.

"Great...I made her so depressed she pulled off a move only I could do until now." Rainbow Dash said laying back on the cloud. "Man...what is wrong with me? It seems like Fluttershy cries only when I'm around."

Misty Gale had seen the whole thing and flew up to Rainbow Dash. "Hey there Ms. Loyalty."

"Misty Gale...you saw all that?" Rainbow Dash asked nervous.

"The whole deal cutie Dash." Misty Gale nodded. "Listen, I'm no aspect of friendship like you and your friends are. But as long as I have been a wonderbolt, I've learned some important stuff."

"What's that?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"One of the things I learned is most wonderbolts only care about themselves, it's always about career and money. You and Fluttershy are a fresh change of pace to the wonderbolts because you do it for the love of flying. And if you love something, is it wrong to share that love?" Misty Gale pointed out. "Fluttershy didn't even want to do this, we made her do it. But it helped her. Come on, you can't tell me you don't like her smile."

Rainbow Dash realized what she meant and nodded. "Your right...I'm being silly...I hurt my friend over something stupid...if she wants to be in the wonderbolts, then we both can!"

Rainbow Dash then flew towards Fluttershy's home. Misty Gale smiled and flew down to Ponyville. She had some business to take care of. Rainbow Dash knocked on her door. "Fluttershy? Fluttershy? Please open the door…."

Fluttershy didn't answer but Rainbow Dash could see her from her window. "Come on Fluttershy, I see you. Look...I'm sorry, I was being selfish and stupid...I do that. But you are my best friend. You stuck by me all the time and I always tried to push you away like a dork. I understand if your mad at me...but can you forgive me for being just a loser?"

Fluttershy looked at the door and then went over and opened the door. She wiped her tears away and nodded. "Oh Rainbow Dash...I already have."

Rainbow Dash hugged her and Fluttershy hugged her back. It wasn't easy to forgive, even a friend for mistreatment. But Fluttershy was so kind that nothing Rainbow could do would make her not love her like family.

Meanwhile in town Misty Gale was looking at a empty building, it was large and had a lot of space. "Nice."

She landed next to a business mare. "Let's see the inside Mrs. Silvermane."

"Of course ma'am." Silvemane walked in the building with Misty following, there was a lot of of space and Misty was very happy about it. There was even two floors.

"I could set up shop here. This is great!" Misty Gale said happily. "I'll take it!"

"I must warn you, this building is on a busy street, living here will be a little hard." Silvermane pointed out.

"That's even better! This will be my new shop, I don't plan on living here." Misty Gale admitted and took out a bag of bits before giving it to her.

"Thank you Ms. Gale." She took the money then they signed some paperwork and then Silvermane left, Misty Gale looked at her new building and walked inside. She then took out a necklace, it was golden with a magic symbol on it. She put it on and it glowed making several boxes appear. She smiled and got to unpacking.

Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash were out in town again enjoying the day. Things got a lot better for them. As they walked through the streets they saw Spike with Shining Star and Dusk Sparkle. "Girls!?"

He had been trying to keep up with them but the twins were busy looking around every little corner. "Come on!"

"Jeez Spike, your out of shape." Dusk said.

"Girls?" Fluttershy called out walking over to them with Rainbow Dash. "What are you two doing?"

"We're on a date!" Shining Star admitted happily.

"Like a sister date?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"I wish." Spike said. "They invited a new game called kiss tag."

"Kiss tag?" Fluttershy asked. "What's that?"

"It's like tag, but with kissing to tag inside of touching." Shining Star said.

"You two….Twilight's going to have to have...the talk with you two when she learns about this." Rainbow Dash said.

"Is that bad?" Dusk asked.

"Well...yes, it's what we call taboo." Fluttershy pointed out. "It's looked down on because it's not natural."

The twins looked at each other and looked at her confused. "But it felt natural."

"This will take awhile." Rainbow Dash said. "Okay girls. Time to learn right from wrong."

They then took them to the park and sat them down for the long talk.


	7. Chapter 7

Twilight Sparkle made her way to Canterlot and into the castle where she saw Luna pacing and Celestia was nowhere to be found. "Luna? What's going on?"

"Twilight?" Luna turns to face her and smiles. "I'm glad to see you again..but why have you returned?"

"I came to talk to Serenity." Twilight said.

"That...will be a problem." Luna admitted.

"Why?" Twilight asked.

"Because while you were gone, Serenity broke out thanks to Daring Do." Luna added. "Paradise is the only one left and Celestia is trying to get answers from her."

"That's not good." Twilight said before going into the room Celestia and and Paradise were in.

"Just make it easier on yourself Paradise. All we want is to know where your sister went." Celestia said trying to reason with her prisoner.

"I told you before...she hates me now…she just ran off with Daring Do, I don't know where she is. All I know is she's coming after you." Paradise admitted.

"You expect me to believe that?" Celestia looked at her annoyed. "After everything you two did."

"What!?" Paradise said shocked. "We!? I betrayed my only family for the sake of YOUR daughter!"

"I don't believe you." Celestia said coldly.

"Yet another reason why we're the bad alicorns and your so innocent perfect princess huh? I stop your daughter from getting hurt and I'm a prisoner." Paradise mocked. She really didn't care anymore.

"I don't have a daughter, and you and your sister are dangerous, with your magic you could doom us all!" Celestia said slamming her hoof onto the table.

Twilight had enough of this and stepped up. "Oh just stop Celestia."

Celestia looked over at Twilight. "Twilight?"

"We could all say the same about you." Twilight pointed out. "You control the very sun itself, if you wanted to you could doom us all."

"It's not the same Twilight." Celestia tried to point out.

"Keep telling yourself that." Twilight said rolling her eyes, she was still upset at her teacher after all. "You can lie to yourself all you want, but the fact is Shining Star and Dusk Sparkle share our DNA. And you can say every alicorn is a danger to the world. Luna controls the moon, you control the sun. Cadance controls love. I mean come on. Think about it. The Celestia I grew up believing in wouldn't be so paranoid, she wouldn't push away fillies. She embraced them. You took Sunset Shimmer in, you took me in. WHY is Shining Star and Dusk so different?"

Paradise smiled at this. At least ONE alicorn in this day and age was smart. Celestia didn't know what to say, she knew she was right and she knew the problem. She was afraid. Starswirl put that fear into her when she was young and she didn't know how to face it. Starswirl made it clear to her that having children when she has such a responsibly to Equestria was a bad thing, that's why she always had young fillies as her students. It was the only way to have something close to children for someone of her position.

Then there was the fear of alicorn's misused power. That's why they had to seal away Paradise and Serenity away. Starswirl made it a point that only the closest of ally's should have alicorn magic. That's why most of them were banished so long ago. Sealing away Paradise and Serenity was only because Starswirl made it seem like they were a threat.

Celestia took a deep breath and stood up. "I...need some time alone, Twilight, maybe you'll have better luck with her."

Celestia walked out of the room and Twilight smiled at Paradise. "Listen Paradise."

"Save it….I don't know anything." Paradise explained.

"I know, I just want to know if you were given a hard time. You are my friend after all." Twilight admitted.

Paradise looked at her confused. "Friend? You want to be friends with me? But everyone hates me."

"Only because they don't know you. And that's what I want to know." Twilight sat across from her. "Tell me about yourself."

Paradise didn't really know what to say. She shrugged at this and began. "Well you know a lot about me already, I was the number one reason for births in the world. I didn't just help ponies. I helped all species, and when my sister got pregnant from that rainbow pegasi she was so happy. Oh those were the days. Smiles and love."

"It sounds lovely...wait, rainbow pegasi?" Twilight looked at her confused. "Do you know that pony?"

"Hmm...I think it was….Rainbow Burst." Paradise explained. "He was a nice guy, always trying to help Serenity with anything he could. He wasn't the greatest pony, but Serenity couldn't help but love him."

"That's the same name as...Rainbow Dash's father!" Twilight stood up. "Paradise, I don't know how, but I need you to find your sister, I think I know where her daughter is!"

"What!?" Paradise looked at her confused before Twilight ran out the door. "Wait!"

Twilight ran out the door and slammed into a pegasi wearing the royal guard armor and they hit the floor. "Oof!"

"Oh I'm sorry princess. Are you okay?" The guard got up and helped her up. "Did I hurt you?"

Twilight looked at him, he was a silver stallion around her age. He had red medium short mane but his tail was long, he had a cutie mark of two crossed swords and a third sword going down between them. He was wearing the royal guard armor and a pair of glasses over his blue eyes. Twilight blushed from this.

"Princess?" He asked again.

"Oh uh...I'm fine...thank you uh..."

"Oh I'm sorry princess, My name is Silverwind. It's my first day as a knight." Silverwind said. "May I ask why you were in a hurry?"

"Oh! Sorry, but I have to hurry, can you release Paradise for me? Thanks!" Twilight said before she ran off.

"Ye-yes princess." Silverwind said with a nod watching her run off. "Well that was weird."

He then goes into the room and Paradise was in there waiting. "And who are you handsome?"

"Just the new guy, princess Twilight ordered me to release you." Silverwind said unlocking her chains.

"She was serious...I have to find my sister." Paradise stood up feeling better. "You, come with me!"

"Are all alicorns this bossy?" Silverwind asked himself as he followed Paradise out the room. Princess Luna saw them and came over.

"What are you doing out?" Luna said annoyed. "Did Twilight do this!?"

"Sorry princess Luna, princess Twilight's orders!" Silverwind said as Paradise ignored her and they ran off.

"Hey!" Luna chased after them.

Meanwhile outside the castle Serenity was looking at all the happy faces as she stayed in the shadows. Daring Do didn't really do much as she was under a spell. "My family...gone...my sister betrayed me...I have nothing left..."

"So what now master?" Daring Do asked.

"This town...this world..it should feel what I feel...it should burn for everything that's happened to me!" Serenity said before her magic flared up and she created a ball of flame. She flew out into the open and in a booming voice spoke to everyone in the city. "YOU ALL HAVE BEEN JUDGED, ALL OF YOU WILL SUFFER FOR WHAT YOUR PRINCESSES HAVE DONE!"

Paradise saw this as they came out of the castle. "Oh no..."

"What is she doing!?" Luna asked.

Paradise saw that Serenity had a flame around her and it kept growing and growing. "She's going to blow up the whole city!"

"We have to stop her then!" Silverwind said.

"We don't have time, she's been charging it since she was taken!" Paradise said. "That flame around her will explode any second!"

Paradise grabbed Luna and Silverwind before running into the castle and used a spell to cast a shield around the castle. "Luna, you need to used your magic and teleport everyone in the city into the castle NOW!"

"Me!?" Luna asked. "I can try!"

Celestia runs inside after seeing the sky darken. "Luna, Paradise!? What's going on!?"

"No time, help me teleport the people in the castle!" Luna shouted.

Celestia didn't know what was going on, but she knew that Luna wasn't kidding around so she joined her in casting the spell.

The four of them watched as Serenity's magic exploded like a bomb nuking the city, luckily the princesses teleport spell went off just in time and every citizen in Canterlot was teleported to safety, thanks to Paradise's shield magic the blast didn't hit the castle but a good chunk of the mountain and the city was gone in a flash of fire.

Twilight Sparkle had teleported herself to Ponyville right in the park and saw Rainbow Dash, she counted that as ton of luck on her side and ran over. "Rainbow Dash!"

"Twilight?" Rainbow Dash looked at her confused as to why she looked out of breath.

"Hey mom!" Shining Star smiled and waved.

"Rainbow Dash, did you ever have a mother when you were growing up?" Twilight asked.

"Where did that come from?" Rainbow Dash asked even more lost. "And yes I did, my dad married. But he told me that he married my mom after I was born. Does that matter?"

"Your birth mother...I know...who it is!" Twilight said trying to not panic just as all of Ponyville suddenly saw the blast coming from Canterlot. "Oh no!"

"What the!?" Rainbow Dash gasped from the horrific scene.

"Oh my!" Fluttershy quickly covered her eyes.

"What is that!?" Dusk asked holding onto her twin.

"I don't know!" Shining Star said doing the same.

"Rainbow Dash, I know it doesn't make sense right now but I think your mother wasn't your birth mother, You have to come with me!" Twilight shouted over the blast.

"What?! Your not making any sense!" Rainbow Dash shouted back.

"Just come on!" Twilight said grabbing her and and teleporting away.

The fire blast finished leaving just a crater that was the city. She landed and took a deep breath. All that magic focusing was a lot even for an alicorn. "Celestia...forced my hoof..."

Twilight teleported with Rainbow Dash behind her. "Serenity!"

Serenity turned to her and glared. "You, you always try and stop me, well it's too late for that. Canterlot is wiped off the map!"

"Not all of it." Twilight explained looking at the castle that was barely standing. "And I have something to ask you...your daughter, your lover...what were their names?"

"What? Why do you care? I'm the villain here!" Serenity said annoyed. "I just turned this city and all it's people into ash!"

"I spoke with Paradise, she told me about you and how you were once happy, you had a family. I know for a fact you helped others and asked for nothing in return. You are not a villain, your just a mother that lost her child and is acting out because you want her back. Now tell me their names." Twilight pressed her on trying to get the truth out.

Serenity sighed. "Fine, you want to know so badly before I hurt you. My lover was...Rainbow Burst...we named our child...Rainbow Dash before she was lost to me...I took her to her father and hide her away."

"Wait what!?" Rainbow Dash looked at them as if they were crazy. "What are you talking about Twilight? This can't be real."

"Serenity...this is Rainbow Dash, her father is Rainbow Burst. After you were sealed away he married another mare to be Rainbow Dash's mother, the daughter you thought you lost was right here the whole time!" Twilight said.

Serenity stopped and looked at them in shock. "Is...is that true? Are you really...her?"

"I'm really confused." Rainbow Dash said. "Are you saying all this time my parents have been lying to me and my real mother is a princess?"

"I know it sounds weird. But thanks to Zecorra I know a spell that can show us the truth." Twilight said using a spell that made a screen appear and it showed Serenity With her baby in a cloak.

Rainbow Dash and Serenity watched as the Serenity in the screen spoke. "There you go...I'm sorry I can't be here for you...but they are hunting me...I don't want that for you...your special."

Serenity laid down her baby and opened the blanket a little revealing a baby Rainbow Dash. "Gaa..."

"I'm so sorry...someday...we'll meet again..I love you my little Rainbow." Serenity said before knocking on the door and leaving.

Twilight's magic faded and she smiled. "The baby she lost...it was you Rainbow Dash, don't you see that?"

Rainbow Dash looked at Serenity and Serenity looked back at her. "So...it's true...you really are my mom...I have two moms? And one of them is an alicorn!?"

Serenity hugged her. "I can't believe it! Your alive! Your safe and sound! This is amazing!"

"This is crazy." Rainbow Dash said hugging her back.

"Don't you see Serenity? You've been trying to get revenge, but you never needed to. Yes Celestia and Luna made mistakes. But they didn't know any better, I know you hurt people. But it's never too late to fix your mistakes." Twilight explained.

"You would forgive me...after everything I did? After THIS?" Serenity looked at her shocked.

"Of course I will, we all made mistakes in our lives. And with magic we can fix what magic ruined." Twilight answered.

"Wow...I….I don't know what to say." Serenity smiled at Twilight. "Thank you Twilight, I promise I'll fix what I destroyed and serve my time."

"Serve your time!?" Celestia came down from the castle that looked like it was about to fall apart from the blast. "After what you just did, I'm going to seal you away forever!"

"No!" Rainbow Dash said getting in front of Serenity. "I just reunited with my mother, I won't let you take her!"

"She blew up the city!" Luna said in rage as she came up with Celestia. "She must pay for what she did!"

The ponies looked at the giant crater, all the ponies looked at the princesses, each one angry from what Serenity had done. "We want justice!"

Twilight looked worried, she was too late to help Serenity, she didn't know what else to do. "Oh no..."

"Hold it!" A voice called out and Rarity came up to them from out of nowhere.

"Rarity!?" Twilight said and everyone looked at her. "What are you doing here?"

"Well all of Equestria saw the blast! I came here as soon as I could!" Rarity explained. "And I have something to say!"

"What is she doing?" Celestia asked.

"My family knew about Serenity and Paradise for a long time. You can't blame them for what they did here!" Rarity announced. "They didn't do anything wrong, they were sealed away for years for no reason!"

"No reason!? Look at our city!" A mare said angry. "It's not even rubble, it's just all gone!"

"We're lucky to be alive!" A stallion pointed out. "Their monsters!"

"If they are monsters then the princesses here are worse!" Twilight shouted. "Celestia is the reason Serenity attacked the city, all Serenity wanted was her child. Her family and it was taken away from her, yes she made bad choices, but it was a mistake and she can knows it, We gave DISCORD and Luna who was Nightmare Moon another chance. Why can't they get one!?"

The ponies all looked at each other unsure of what to say. Rainbow Dash then stepped up. "I agree with Twilight, Celestia gave Discord of all people a second chance, my mom and her sister didn't even do anything like he did. And I'll help fix the city with her."

Silverwind walked up to them with some other guards. The girls looked worried believing they would do arrest the Serenity and Paradise. Silverwind smiled however. "I believe in you princess Twilight, and I stand by you."

The other guards nodded in agreement, Paradise ran up to Serenity. "Sister...please...I'm sorry I betrayed you..."

Luna sighed and nodded. "Twilight and her friends are right, we punished them without reason and yet we freed villains who actually hurt us."

Celestia noticed that the people were now agreeing with them. She realized that this was a good chance to finally get over her fears. "Twilight Sparkle..."

Celestia went over to her ex student and smiled at her. "I...I was wrong, I wanted to keep the peace so badly I couldn't see what I was doing to others, and I was afraid to do anything else because I grew up scared of things I didn't understand. I put too much faith into my teacher Starswirl and I did things I'm not proud of..more mistakes then I would like to admit to..and I want to make things right...starting with Serenity and Paradise."

"Celestia...I am sorry I ran out on my duties..." Twilight admitted.

"Twilight, thank you for coming back. Thanks to you, me and Luna will work to fix what we have done. I was leaving in the past for so long I even turned away from Shining Star and Dusk Sparkle when they needed me...but I want children, I want to be a mother. But a teacher to others children, so...will you come back as a princess? Twilight Sparkle?" Celestia added.

"Yes, I will come back, but being a mother is also my duty." Twilight explained. "That's my condition okay?"

"It's a deal." Celestia said. "If I can do the same."

Twilight smiled at this, she never really saw this side of her, but it was nice. She really felt like this was the start of a new beginning for everyone. Serenity and Paradise hugged and Serenity spoke. "I'm sorry I got so angry sister...I hurt you so much.."

"Hey, I forgive you. We're family after all." Paradise said happily.

"Oh! I forgot." Serenity looked over at Daring Do and released her from her spell.

Daring Do Shook her head and stomped over to her. "You!"

"I'm sorry…" Serenity said feeling bad.

"Don't do that again! Got it!?" Daring Do said annoyed and then left. "Alicorns with their magic."

"Okay, maybe it'll take a bit more time." Twilight said to herself.

"So what can we do to fix this...mess?" Luna asked.

"Well there is ONE unicorn that knows nature magic." Twilight said. "Melody Bloom can heal the land with ease!"

Serenity and Paradise got to work on clearing up the debris, Twilight went off to get Melody Bloom and Rainbow Dash was helping Serenity to catch up, it was different for Rainbow Dash because she had two mothers now. Rarity was more then happy to help Paradise.

Luna and Celestia watched as everyone was working together to fix the damage. Celestia noticed Shining Star looking at her, she took a deep breath and went over to her. "Shining Star?"

Shining Star backed up a little. "I...I'll go..."

"No...don't go." Celestia quickly said. "Listen..I'm sorry for what I said...I didn't mean it."

"Re-really?" Shining Star asked.

"If it's okay...maybe we could start over?" Celestia pondered.

"You...mean it?" Shining Star asked again.

Celestia nodded. "It's a pleasure to meet you officially."

Shining Star hugged her leg and Celestia hugged her back, Luna smiled at this and nudged Dusk. "Go join them."

Dusk jumped at the chance and hugged Celestia's leg. Celestia hugged her as well. "I promise I'll be there for you two, just like Twilight."

"Yay!" The twins said in unison.

"So all that happened to you huh?" Rainbow Dash asked as they cleared most of the debris around the crater. "You had it rough."

"That's an understatement Dashie. But I'd say it was worth it, because now I know that you had a good life and are happy. I mean your a wonderbolt." Serenity said enjoying the time they had.

"But I do have a question about this, if you are my mother then why am I not a alicorn like you?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"It's actually a low chance for that to happen, alicorns are born but it's rare. Your father is a pegasi so you had about a fifteen chance to be an alicorn. But do you realize what this means for you?" Serenity explained. "You are a princess."

Rainbow Dash looked at her shocked. "Me!? A princess!? No way!"

"YOU!?" Rarity shouted. "Oh come on!"

"Uh...did I say something wrong?" Serenity asked.

"Why does all my friends get to be princesses and not me!?" Rarity complained.

Rainbow Dash just looked at Rarity dumbfounded. "Come on Rarity, me? A princess? As if."

"But it's true." Paradise said. "You are of royal blood even if you aren't an alicorn."

"Honestly I'm good just being myself." Rainbow Dash pointed out. "I don't really want to be a princess."

"It's a birthright, you can't just ignore it." Serenity pointed out. "But we can worry about that later."

"Great, my whole life is changing in a lot of ways." Rainbow Dash said. "And it's hard to tell if it's for the better or not."

"Well don't worry to much about it darling." Rarity said. "A lot has happened and we just need to take this all with filly steps."

"Your right Rarity, let's keep working." Rainbow Dash said and they got back to work.

Twilight returned shortly with Melody Bloom. "So that's what happened."

"I can see that, you really should have told us this was a problem." Melody explained. "I mean I could have fought them or something."

"But can you fix the damage?" Twilight asked.

"Oh this just requires a sixth level restore spell." Melody said with a smile. "I got this."

Melody then cast the spell and her magic flared. She focused for awhile and then the ground started to sparkle and glow. The crowd of ponies watched in awe as the magic filled the ground and the land started to repair itself, the mountain started to grow back a little but it wasn't enough.

"We need more magic!" Twilight said joining in and using her magic to help Melody's magic.

Celestia, Luna, Serenity and Paradise then joined in their own magic as well, the combined magic created a large ball of energy. The land healed but even with all their magic it would take time. The magic finally finished and the crater itself was healed but the magic would take weeks before the mountain was back to normal.

Melody sat down panting a bit, it took a lot out of her as she never had to heal a mountain before. Twilight smiled at her and gave her a quick hug. "Thank you Melody, you did it."

"It's no problem." Melody said with a smile.

"Well now all that's left is to build new homes and buildings." Celestia pointed out. "For now we will have to stay somewhere else until everything is back to normal."

"Ponyville doesn't have enough room for all of you though." Rarity explained.

Then a voice spoke up. "I know where you all can stay."

The crowd turned to see another alicorn, she had a red coat and blue long mane and tail with golden highlights coming down from her royal chariot with her royal guards dressed in red armor. She had a crown on and she looked extremely regal. "Greetings ponies of Equestria!"

"Who is that?" Twilight asked to anyone that would answer.

"I...don't know." Serenity said.

"I know her." Celestia admitted.

"My name is Nova. Princess of Maretopia. And I feel awful seeing what happened here today. So I invite you all to come stay in my kingdom until your homes are restored." Nova spoke in a calm and regal manner.

"Okay, WHAT!?" Twilight turned to Celestia. "How many alicorns are there!? I thought we were the only ones!"

"To be honest...it was only half of a lie...I said we are the only alicorns...in "Equestria" Maretopia is in Unicorn Grove." Celestia explained.

"What's that?" Twilight asked, she knew all the surrounding areas and that wasn't one she knew about. "I never heard of Unicorn Grove."

"It's actually considered the new Unicornia, I honestly don't know much about her, but I have seen her in the princess meetings." Celestia pointed out.

"As a fellow princess it is my duty to help those in need. I am willing to rebuild your city and your homes, and I am willing to give you shelter in my kingdom while it is being done." Nova said with a smile.

"You are willing to send your own resources to fix my mistake?" Serenity asked. "That's very kind of you...but why?"

"Well my kingdom is fairly new considering and I wish to extend a hoof in good gesture to my fellow princesses." Nova said.

"Doesn't it seem a little...convenient?" Luna asked Celestia who nodded.

"That's very kind of you, but we can handle this." Celestia pointed out. "Thank you anyway."

"I understand why you would think that. But all I bring is a kind gesture, nothing more." Nova's chariot landed and she got off of it. "People of Canterlot, most of you don't have a place to go, nowhere to sleep or anything like that. Now I am sure your princesses have "Something' planned to fix what's theirs. But after what just happened...do you believe them?"

The crowd all looked at each other and then at the princesses and started to talk among themselves. They all knew now that Celestia had been lying to them about Serenity and Paradise, what else could they be lying about?

"Now please don't take this the wrong way, I don't want to judge or turn you against your princesses, all I offer is food, shelter and your trust in me with your homes." Nova said. "And if you don't like what I do here, then I will take it all away and nobody loses."

"I believe my sister made it clear Ms. Nova. We don't want your help." Luna said.

"Now wait a minute." Moondancer spoke up from the crowd and came up. "I don't know about a lot of you...but my home was all I had here. No family or friends. I think this is a good idea, a princess that we can trust is offering us a stay at her city and is willing to fix our homes for free. That sounds like a much better deal then what the other princesses would make us do. If we left it to them we would be paying to fix the town from our own pockets. Remember what happened the last time our city was destroyed?"

Celestia and Luna looked at each other worried. Twilight stepped up to Moondancer. "Are you sure?"

"You didn't just lose everything to a princess argument." Moondancer pointed out. "Serenity was just upset at Celestia and we all paid for it, we had jobs here Twilight. Not just homes. Princess Nova is offering us a chance to make it the way it was. Can we afford not to take it?"

"But Moondancer…" Twilight tried to think of a reason to not go but she couldn't think of anything.

"Let them go darling." Rarity spoke as she walked up to them. "You have always had royal funding, you never needed money before. These ponies work for a living, Moondancer is right. And I don't sense anything evil about Nova, she wants to help."

"Nova, if you are going to do this. I wish to help rebuild." Serenity came up to her. "I made...a huge mistake and I want to make things right."

"Can I help as well?" Paradise asked.

"We all will." Luna brought up. "People of Canterlot. Please go with Nova to her city, we will fix everything we can as fast as we can. Thank you."

Nova brought out a small disc and placed it on the floor before pushing on it and a portal opened up around it. "Step through and you will be teleported to my city of Maretopia."

The crowd of people started to head through the portal and Celestia watched them all go as she walked up to Nova. "Something is up Nova...what are you really planning?"

"Well I was thinking about getting some Cantorlot delights for the trip back from my meeting with the princess of Saddleberg but that's out." Nova said innocently.

"Can I go and check out your city?" Rarity asked.

"Of course Miss. My city is open to all." Nova nodded.

"Come on girls. It's not like we will get another chance like this." Rarity said happily.

"I don't know Rarity, I have a lot of work to do and I shouldn't leave the castle for so long." Twilight admitted.

"Hey uh...mom? You want to check it out with us?" Rainbow Dash asked Serenity.

"You...want me around? After what I did?" Serenity looked at her confused.

"Well sure, I mean you are family and nobody got really hurt. And that blast was awesome! Even if it destroyed the city it was so cool!" Rainbow Dash admitted.

"Well...okay!" Serenity said with a nod trying to hide her tears of joy.

"You don't have to be so busy Twilight, it's just a map, if any danger happens in the few hours we're there then Fluttershy, Applejack and Pinkie Pie can handle it. Plus we have Starlight, the wonderbolts. You need a break and the twins seem to want to go as well."

Twilight looked over at the twins who were jumping around excitedly. "Yay! Field trip with both mommy's!"

Twilight nodded. "Okay. Your right, it's just for a little bit."

"Wonderful. Then come along every pony." Nova said going through the portal.

The rest followed after her and Melody Bloom looked at Twilight before they reached the portal. "Things have been pretty crazy around here huh?"

"Yeah." Twilight agreed. "But with Serenity and Paradise no longer trying to be evil I think the worst is behind us."

They then walked through the portal.


	8. Chapter 8

Fluttershy and Starlight were still in Ponyville and Starlight was pretty bored. All they were doing was relaxing on Rainbow Dash's relaxing chairs. "This is nice Fluttershy."

"It has been a long time since we did anything together like this." Fluttershy admitted.

"And most of the time when we do hang out it's some friendship lesson or another task." Starlight nodded in agreement.

"So what do you want to do?" Fluttershy asked.

Starlight thought about it, she had no idea what friends actually did together. "We could….practice our magic?"

"I don't have magic." Fluttershy told her looking confused.

"Oh right...how about we go see Trixie's magic show?" Starlight added hoping that was a good idea.

"Oh that sounds nice, let's do that!" Fluttershy said getting up.

Starlight smiled at this, she was amazed that Fluttershy wanted to hang out with her. "By the way, what's with the new look?"

"Huh?" Fluttershy looked at herself in a nearby pool and noticed she was still in her rainbow form. "Oh my. I'm still transformed?"

"Wait, transformed?" Starlight asked. She had never seen the rainbow power before but she found Fluttershy's new look to be pretty. "You got some magical work done?"

"No, I transformed with the power of friendship...here let me see if I can turn it off." Fluttershy said as she focused, the glow around her dimmed a little and she turned back to normal, but she could feel the power still inside her. something inside her could tell that she could now turn it off and on.

"A pegasi with magic? How is that possible?" Starlight asked.

"I think it's because I'm an element of harmony." Fluttershy said. She didn't really think about it but she was excited about it. "But it is pretty neat right?"

"Neat? That's better then neat, you found a whole new form of magic!" Starlight said getting excited then she remembered Trixie's show was about to start. "Oh! We need to get going, we can talk about this later."

Fluttershy nodded and they went to Trixie's show. Trixie Lulamoon was showing off her magic. "Watch and be amazed by the great and powerful Trixie!"

Fluttershy and Starlight watched as a small amount of ponies were watching, there was only five at most and one left. Starlight frowned at this, she knew that Trixie was talented, why didn't anypony like her show?

Trixie used her magic to dazzle the crowd and in a poof of smoke all of the viewers had vanished. "Huh? Where did everypony go?"

Trixie saw the tail ends of the ponies leaving and sighed. "Another show wasted..."

Starlight and Fluttershy went up to the stage and Trixie smiled. "Oh hey Starlight."

Starlight smiled back and hugged her. "Hey Trixie, you doing okay?"

"Trixie is fine...that's a lie Trixie's magic show is a failure." Trixie admitted.

"Why what happened?" Starlight asked. She was really worried now. "Your shows are always fun."

"Well you would be the only one to think that." Trixie said before she sighed. "Trixie was once popular but now she is nothing to the other magical beings around here."

"What do you mean?" Fluttershy asked.

"Trixie was talented, the only unicorn she had to contend with was Twilight Sparkle. Ponies from all over knew and respected her. But then Twilight became the princess took all the magic from Trixie's shows. Almost nopony wants to see a pony use magic for entertainment now. But this was how Trixie lived...how will Trixie live now?" Trixie explained.

"Do you blame Twilight for what happened to you?" Starlight asked.

"If there was anyone to blame it would be her." Trixie nodded. "Before she came along Trixie was the number one pony...and Trixie worked it. Twilight was given all her power."

"Sounds to me like you need to talk to Twilight, sort this out. We can help you with that." Starlight said. "Right Fluttershy?"

"We can find you a new job and turn your life around Trixie." Fluttershy admitted.

"You would do that for Trixie? But why?" Trixie looked at them shocked.

"Listen I Know what it's like to be hated. But trust me, it will all work out if you let us help you." Starlight added.

"Well...Trixie has nothing to lose so….okay." Trixie accepted. "Thank you."

Then the three of them went off to help Trixie with her problem. Rarity was normally the one with all the business ideas. But she was with Twilight and Rainbow Dash, so they went to Pinkie Pie's first. Pinkie was just sitting there doing nothing. After the girls had left she didn't really do anything extra.

"Hey Pinkie." Fluttershy called out happily as she flew over to her. "Can we ask you something?"

"Hm? Well I don't think cake counts as one of the basic food groups. But it totally should!" Pinkie said completely unaware of what Fluttershy was actually going to say.

"Uh...no, but do you have an extra job in the shop?" Fluttershy asked.

"Oh sure we have a lot of jobs that need filling." Pinkie said with a grin at her own pun.

"Great, Trixie you can get a job here for awhile." Fluttershy said turning to face Trixie.

Pinkie then noticed Starlight and Trixie. "Wait...you want me to give Trixie a job?"

"If that's okay." Starlight added. "How about it?"

"No." Pinkie said. "We have no jobs for someone like her."

Trixie's ears dropped down, she was used to it but it still hurt. Starlight looked annoyed at Pinkie now, she didn't like how she sounded. "What does that mean?"

"She's not a baker, she's a trickster. And we don't want anyone like that here." Pinkie added. "Sorry, but after she made fun of my parent's rock farm I don't want her around."

"Wow…" Starlight turned away and took Trixie outside. Fluttershy looked back at them and then at Pinkie.

"That seemed a little harsh don't you think?" Fluttershy pointed out to her friend. "I think Trixie deserves a second chance."

"A second? We gave her way more then that, and she still lies." Pinkie said. "And she's mean."

Fluttershy knew that Pinkie was just upset, it wasn't fair that she was so mean to Trixie. "You know? I've noticed that you and the girls judge others a little too fast. I'm going to trust Trixie."

Fluttershy then left the building and Starlight shook her head. "What was that about?"

"I think they just need some time." Fluttershy said. "How about we check with Applejack and see what we can do there?"

"Good idea." Starlight said.

The girls then went to Applejack's farm. As usual Applejack was bucking trees for their apples. "Hey Applejack."

"Oh howdy Fluttershy, what can I do you for?" Applejack smiled at her friend.

"Can we ask you something?" Fluttershy asked showing Trixie and Starlight. "Trixie here needs a job, can you find her one?"

Applejack looked at Trixie and then back at Fluttershy. "Trixie? Ah don't think so, whenever she's around trouble isn't far behind."

"Oh come on!" Trixie said annoyed.

"Wow, people really don't like you huh?" Starlight added.

"Yeah…" Trixie nodded.

"Well okay then." Fluttershy said disappointed at her friends.

The three walked away from the farm and made their way to Trixie's wagon. Trixie was packing her things and Starlight didn't know what to say, she hated seeing her friend like this. "Trixie? Are you okay?"

"I have no home, no real work and according to most ponies no talent so...no. I'm not okay." Trixie said. "Fluttershy? Can you get that chest over there for me?"

Fluttershy nodded and went over to the chest, she tried to lift it but it was rather heavy. She lifted it a little and the top opened making Trixie's things pop out. In the chest Fluttershy noticed a book with Trixie's cutie mark on it. She picked it up and opened it.

In the book was a story. About a mare who was abandoned by her family and friends, even so she kept on strong and pursued her dreams. She never quit even though she was told she wasn't any good at her talents. She didn't give up even when her rival humiliated her in front of a large crowd.

Fluttershy read the story for a bit and smiled. "Hey Trixie? What is this?"

"Oh that?" Trixie looked over at her. "That's just a silly thing Trixie write's in when I get bored."

"It's really good." Fluttershy admitted. "Your characters are fun and enjoyable, the story has all sorts of things going on and it's really good. I feel like I could live this."

"You really like it?" Trixie asked.

Fluttershy nodded and Starlight came over and read it a little. "She's right...this is amazing Trixie. And you did this all by yourself?"

"Yes I did." Trixie smiled at this. She didn't remember the last time someone actually liked anything she did. She felt happy.

"That's it!" Fluttershy said suddenly. "This is the answer Trixie!"

"My book?" Trixie asked. "What do you mean?"

"Your talent is magic, just like Twilight's talent. The problem you are having right now is that you are trying to do a magic show in the world already magical. Nobody is impressed by that nowadays. But you have a talent here even Twilight doesn't have. You can tell a story. If you write and get published you'll be huge!" Fluttershy explained.

"That's...a great idea Fluttershy!" Starlight agreed. "With something like this, you can making a living no problem!"

"You girls really think so?" Trixie asked smiling now. "You girls really believe in me?"

"Of course we do." Starlight said happily.

"More then that, I'll help you get started." Fluttershy said. "Thanks to Photo Finish I know a bit about business."

"But don't you have your own work to do?" Trixie asked feeling touched.

"I can manage my life and help you fix yours, that's what friends do." Fluttershy said. "We help each other when we're done."

Trixie smiled at this and hugged Fluttershy. "Thank you...I mean it."

Fluttershy smiled back and Starlight then sensed something, all the life in Canterlot seemed to just vanish. "What the?"

Trixie looked at her close friend. "What? It's just a hug."

"No, no not that. I feel like something really bad happened at Canterlot." Starlight explained.

"Like what?" Fluttershy asked.

"Like they aren't there, something happened there. Maybe we should look into it?" Starlight explained. "We should go check it out."

"I can get the others and we can go there." Fluttershy said.

"Okay, Trixie and I will see you there." Starlight added and they split up.

Meanwhile Twilight Sparkle and the gang walked through the portal, they were outside a large castle that was white with red roofing and gold trim around it. It was beautiful and there was a statue floating above a large red gem. The statue was a male unicorn. The garden was lush and had plants Twilight never saw before.

Twilight was beaming at all the new sights. "This is amazing!"

Nova smiled and went up some of the stairs so everyone could see her. "Welcome to Unicorn Grove everyone!"

The crowd was excited and Moondancer spoke up. "This place is very magical, but where can we stay?"

Nova pointed to the castle town. "We have an inn for you all to stay in. just tell the owners that the princess sent you and you will all get a room. Guards!"

Then some buff unicorn stallions came down, their armor was red with gold trim, it was clear that red and gold was the main theme for the city but it was a good color scheme. "Show our guests to their rooms."

Twilight went up to Nova and smiled. "Can the rest of us see your castle? Maybe learn more about this place?"

"Yes please, my doors are always open." Nova said. "Let's go in."

The guards took Moondancer and the people of Canterlot down to the city. Shining Star and Dusk Sparkle jumped on top of Twilight and Rarity came up. "So let's see this Unicorn wonderland shall we?"

"Come inside." Nova then lead everyone into her castle. The inside looked like even better then the outside and Rainbow Dash was enjoying how much space there was. "We have everything a unicorn could ever want. A library with every kind of magic, gardens and even an artifact room."

"Artifact room?" Luna asked. "Why would you need one of those?"

"Where else would we store powerful tools and magical things?" Nova pointed out.

"I have a question, that statue out front, who was that?" Rarity asked.

"That was our sage, he was on the same level as Starswirl the bearded. His name was Blooming Fire." Nova explained. "He taught me a lot about life and magic, and made this kingdom a place of peace for all unicorns."

"Only Unicorns?" Celestia asked. "Isn't that a little short sighted?"

"It's a kingdom of magic, the other races are welcome of course. We actually have pegasi and earth ponies come here all the time." Nova added. "We treat all races with respect and trust. Griffins and monsters even come here. But Unicorn Grove is lived in by unicorns for the most part."

"Wow, even Equestria doesn't accept those other races." Rainbow Dash said.

Everyone made it to a set of doors and one of them had a sign on it reading Artifacts. Twilight got curious and stopped. "Can we see this room?"

Nova nodded and opened the door. "Just make sure to not touch anything, they are still active and could be a danger."

Twilight with her twins on her back and her friends walked in the room and Celestia stopped Luna from going in. "Come on Luna, we have to go to the meeting room with Nova to fix Canterlot."

"Aw...but it looks fun in there." Luna pouted.

"Business first." Celestia said stern.

"Well then, come along." Nova then took the four princesses to her throne room.

Twilight and the rest were in awe at the sight of so many items around the place. Each one had a plaque telling the story if each one, how they came to be and who used them. Rarity went over to a spool of thread that was glowing. "The thread of Everfree? It says here it never runs out. Why that's amazing!"

Rainbow Dash went over to what looked like a wing badge. "Wings of Flutter? Gives the user wings of a flutter pony?"

Rainbow Dash looked confused. "What's a flutter pony?"

"No idea." Twilight said going over to a jar. "Let's see….the Phoenix jar? Holds the ashes of Amare, the queen phoenix. This is powerful magic to keep a phoenix from being reborn."

Dusk and Shining Star looked over at a wand, Dusk went over to it and Shining Star was about to follow her when she noticed a seed floating in a jar and went over to it.

"Hey sis, look at this. This wand was used to shape the land...oh! It's made from the world tree, whatever that is." Dusk said as she read the plaque.

"Mom!" Shining Star called out after she read the plaque of the seed in the jar.

Twilight, Rainbow Dash and Rarity all came over to her. "What is it?"

"Read this!" Shining Star said pointing to the plaque.

Twilight looked it over and read it out loud. "Tree of harmony seed….oh my gosh….how did Nova get her hooves on something like this!?"

"She has all kinds of artifacts from all over the world!" Rarity admitted.

"And this is just a few of the stuff she has." Rainbow Dash added. "Crazy."

"Maybe we shouldn't mess with anything in here." Twilight said picking up the twins again. "Come on, we should check on the others."

In Nova's meeting room Nova was going over the plan with them. "So given about three weeks to a month, Canterlot will have no damages whatsoever, in fact the city might even be better."

"I think we can do just fine as it was." Celestia pointed out.

"Is there anything I can do to fix it?" Serenity asked. "I just feel awful…"

"Sister, you were blinded by hate, it's not all your fault." Paradise pointed out. "Listen Nova, since you are helping Celestia and Luna, could you help us?"

"Oh? With what?" Nova asked raising an eyebrow.

"Well we don't have a place to live now, could you help us build a shine like we used to live in." Paradise asked hopeful.

"I wish I could Paradise, but a shine seems a little….how about I get my builders to make you a mansion? I'm sure Celestia and Luna can give you land. They do owe you after all." Nova said hinting at the others.

"I would be more then happy to do that, after all everything was caused because of a misunderstanding." Celestia said.

"Thank you Celestia. I...I misjudged you...I'm so sorry." Serenity said almost choking up.

Luna and Paradise smiled at each other. "Paradise, I am sorry as well."

"I think we all are sorry..." Paradise said. "But we can start over and be friends."

"I think that is a wonderful idea." Celestia added.

Nova loved watching this, it did her heart good to see them get along, alicorns haven't gotten along in quite some time.

Nova took out some papers and set them down in front of Celestia. "Princess Celestia, if you would sign this I can begin work on rebuilding your city."

Celestia looked over the paper. "And there is no catch? Or some sort of trap?"

"Well there is something I want. But it's a small price to pay to save face with your people isn't it?" Nova pointed out.

"And what do you want?" Luna asked.

"I just want everyone to be happy, don't worry. It's no big deal." Nova said with a smile.

Celestia smiled at this and nodded, she then signed the paper and gave it back to Nova. Nova looked at it and nodded. "Great, I'll get my builders to work right away, until then please feel free to use my castle as if it was your own."

"I have one more question." Paradise asked quickly. "Do you have a bath?"

"I have a royal bath silly, enjoy and don't worry about the guards they won't bother you." Nova said before she got up. "Now please excuse me, I have a lot of work to do."

Princess Nova then walked out of the room and Celestia and the others followed out. Silverwind was there waiting for his princesses to be finished and there was some of Nova's guards just giving him the cold shoulder. "Man, and I thought the knights back home were hardcore."

"Silverwind?" Celestia went over to him. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm doing my duty and looking out for you." Silverwind answered, the other guards were gone with the citizens but he couldn't just sit around while his princesses were in some strange land they had never been to before. Safe or not. "How was the meeting? If I may ask."

"It went well, our city will be back to normal in about a month or so." Luna explained.

"And while we are here, you can take some time off Silverwind just like the others." Celestia pointed out.

"I...this is my first day on the job, I would rather not take time off a job I just started." Silverwind admitted.

"Well then let us do the hanging of outs!" Luna said happily and grabbed his front hoof with hers. "You can escort us around town as we get to know this kingdom."

Silverwind blushed as the two princesses dragged him away as they left. Paradise turned to her sister and smiled. "That just leaves us then huh?"

"Actually..." Serenity sighed. "Sorry sister...but I made plans with Rainbow Dash. I'll see you later."

Serenity then went off to go find her daughter and Paradise looked around the now empty hall. "So….everyone has family and friends except me now huh?"

Paradise hung her head and walked away, Twilight had gone outside with her daughters, Rainbow Dash and Rarity, the room full of strange things still on Twilight's mind. Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Trixie and Starlight then appeared from the portal to Equestria. "Whoa….what is this place?"

"Girls!" Twilight called out.

The girls all came over to them and Twilight noticed Trixie. "What is she doing here?"

Starlight didn't know what to say and Trixie knew if she spoke Twilight would say something bad to her. What they didn't expect was Fluttershy spoke up. "I invited her, we're friends after all."

"You are friends with Trixie?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Yes, is that bad? She's quite nice." Fluttershy said.

The girls didn't know what to say, Fluttershy was clearly more talkative and brave. Applejack smiled at this. "You know? I'm impressed by you Fluttershy. What happened?"

"I can tell you that." Rainbow Dash said. "She finally found herself."

"Thanks to the wonderbolts I'm no longer a push over for animals." Fluttershy explained.

"Oohhhh!" Pinkie smiled at this. "How about we celebrate!?"

Nova heard this as she walked out of her castle with her guards. "You girls can use my balcony for anything like that if you want."

"Oh Nova, what are you doing?" Twilight asked.

"I'm going to get some workers to start the project to rebuild Canterlot." Nova pointed out. "Enjoy girls."

Princess Nova then walked away and the girls walked in, They all went to her balcony and Pinkie stopped and went into a room before coming out with a teapot, she quickly made some tea and snacks as the girls got to talking.

"Yes, she's really good." Fluttershy said giving Twilight the book Trixie wrote. Twilight looked it over and frowned a little.

"This is a story about making Trixie seem like a victim and I'm the villain." Twilight said a little hurt.

"It's just a story Twilight, keep reading." Starlight said.

Twilight nodded and kept reading, Rarity smiled at Fluttershy and spoke. "I'm so proud of you Fluttershy. You seem to have grown so much in such a little amount of time."

"It's still hard for me...but thanks to Rainbow Dash, I didn't give up and now I'm a wonderbolt idol. I'm happy with that, I don't want to be a real wonderbolt."

"Yeah, that's my job after all." Rainbow Dash pointed out.

"The best part about that is we can hear you sing again." Applejack brought up.

Fluttershy blushed at this and Pinkie set the cookies and poured tea for everyone. "Good thing I always carry cookies and drinks with me!"

Rarity looked at the cookies that had pink hair in them. "Oh uh….they look...good?"

Silverwind ran into the room. "Excuse me ladies! Can I hide here?"

"Hide?" Starlight looked at him confused. "Why?"

"Because the princesses want me to relax! I'm a knight, I'm terrible at that!" Silverwind said.

"How can anyone be bad at relaxing?" Rainbow Dash asked as she drank her tea.

"Here mister, I made a lot." Pinkie said giving him a cup of tea.

"Oh thank you very much." Silverwind said before drinking it.

The gang all drank their tea and then Rainbow Dash set her cup down. "That was good tea."

Rainbow Dash then looked over and noticed her body was across from her. She looked down and saw she was Pinkie. "Uh….guys…."

"What the!?" Twilight looked around but her voice came from Rarity's body.

"Oh my..." Fluttershy blushed but she was now in Silverwind's body.

Applejack was in Rainbow Dash's body. "Whoa!"

Shining Star touched her face and was in Twilight's body. "Ooohhhh! I'm an adult!"

Dusk was in Fluttershy's body. "This is fun!"

Pinkie and Twilight looked at each other now that they were in Dusk and Shining Star's bodies. And Starlight was now in Trixie's body. Silverwind looked down and realized he was in Starlight's body. And Trixie was in Applejack's body.

"What happened!?" Twilight's voice came from Shining Star's body. "We're in different bodies!?"

"I'm a...I'm a...I'm a stallion!?" Fluttershy's voice came from Silverwind. "As if I didn't get enough teasing from that Flutterguy voice!"

"What come of tea was that!?" Applejack's voice came from Rainbow Dash, she turned to Pinkie's body.

"Don't look at me, I'm Rainbow Dash!" Rainbow Dash said in Pinkie's body.

Dusk Sparkle who was now Pinkie looked at the teapot closer. "Oops...my bad girls, this is some sort of spell bound teapot that swaps bodies!"

"Wait...what room did you get that teapot?" Twilight asked.

"It was from that room with all that junk floating around." Pinkie said.

"Pinkie!" Twilight called out annoyed. "That was the artifact room, everything in there has incredible magic we don't understand! We can't switch back!"

"But me and Star have school coming up!" Dusk said in Fluttershy's body.

"We have more problems then that!" Silverwind said in Starlight's body. "I'm a mare!"

"At least I'm a unicorn." Starlight said in Trixie's body.

"I'm a farmer!? I hate farming!" Trixie said annoyed in Applejack's body.

"What can we do Twilight?" Fluttershy asked turning to Twilight and Shining Star shrugged.

"I have no idea...Nova should be able to help us though. Let's go ask her quick!" Shining Star said in Twilight's voice. "Come on everyone!"

"Wait! Rarity are you okay?" Fluttershy turned to her friend worried.

"Actually...I'm Celestia." Rarity said in Celestia's voice. "Pinkie gave me some tea on her way here..."

"Then that means Rarity is in Celestia's body!" Applejack said.

"We have to find her and fix this mess!" Twilight said and they ran out of the balcony.


	9. Chapter 9

Nova was looking over the plans with the stallions she hired to go fix what remained of Canterlot. Princess Nova was more then happy to help others in need. "So how long do you think this will take?"

The foremen looked over the plans and the boss spoke up. "Shouldn't be more then a couple of days after the mountain is fixed from their magic, so in about a month give or take."

"Good to know, thank you gentle stallions." Princess Nova said before leaving them to get to work, the portal to Canterlot's crater was luckily still open so they got there pretty fast.

Nova was then approached by her guard captain, his name was Daring Flare. "Princess Nova, may I ask why we are letting strangers into the castle."

"Because they are our guests Daring Flare. I know you don't like new people but they are from Equestria and need our help." Nova explained. "Do I need another reason?"

"I see...very well princess." Daring Flare didn't like this, but he would follow his princess's orders.

Nova looked at him confused as he walked away. Something about the way he was acting lately was off. Nova shook it off and went back to her walk when Celestia came running up to her. "Princess!"

Her voice seemed different however. "Princess! Something is wrong!"

"Celestia? Why so formal?" Nova asked. "What is wrong?"

"That's just it! I am not Celestia, it's me Rarity!" Celestia claimed.

Nova had no idea what to say, maybe Celestia was just teasing her or something. "Uh...what?"

"I don't know what happened, one minute I was drinking tea with my friends and next I'm somewhere else in a new body!" Celestia explained.

"Drinking….tea?" Nova thought about it and then smacked herself a little. "You didn't drink from Aura burn's tea kettle did you!?"

"Aura Burn's kettle? What's that?" Celestia asked.

"It's a magical tea kettle that swaps ponies souls. It swaps those in need of a lesson, if they don't get along, it shows who needs to improve their relationship, but don't worry…." Nova explained and then got a worried look.

"Wait...so I have problems I didn't even know about with Celestia?" Celestia asked. "Oh my...what's the cure?"

"That's the problem...that's a very old kettle, Aura Burn was alive a long time ago. There was a spell to fix it but that was a long time ago." Nova pointed out.

"So...there is no cure?" Celestia asked getting worried.

"Not anymore. But I can look into it." Nova said trying to reassure her.

Around that time Twilight and the others ran up to Nova. "Nova!"

"Oh everyone, I'm glad your here. Rarity already explained what happened." Nova said.

"So do you have a cure for this?" Trixie asked.

"That's the problem...there isn't one." Rarity explained to her friends. "Princess Nova will be looking into one for us though."

"So...what do we do?" Twilight asked.

"The best thing to do is try and get used to your new bodies...there is a chance you won't change back." Nova declared. "Try and have fun with it if you can."

"Now can I have fun? My wings are gone!" Pinkie said annoyed.

"I'm sorry, I didn't think you all would use any of the magical artifacts." Nova said. "Why don't you come into town with me? Maybe that will help you with your problems?"

"Well just panicking isn't going to help any." Applejack agreed.

"Well I guess we can do that." Twilight added.

Princess Nova smiled and took her guests down into town, Twilight noticed how beautiful the town was, the city beamed with unicorns, Twilight noticed all sorts of amazing and tall buildings, magic was visibly flowing in the sky.

"Wow...this city is so...magical." Trixie said looking at the sky. "The sky seems to flow with magic."

They got to the center of town and they all noticed a large floating reddish orange gem that looked like crystal fire. It was even more beautiful then the city itself, it seemed to glow with an amazing flare. Twilight couldn't help but look in awe. "What is that?"

"That princess, is our Sun gem." Nova explained as she walked over to it. "This is what gives us the light."

"I thought Celestia moved the sun for the world." Applejack pointed out. "That's how it works, Celestia raises the sun and Luna raises the moon."

Nova looked at Rainbow Dash and shook her head. "Miss Dash, do you really think other kingdoms outside of Equestria would really go along with something like that?"

"Actually, I'm Applejack." Applejack said. "And what do you mean?"

"Right, still confused about the whole body switch thing." Nova smiled. "But let me explain, in Equestria you have two princesses that control the very sun and moon, the sun gives light and life, the moon gives love and dark. Now as a princess myself I can't trust them with such power. This sun gem gives my land everything we need from the sun as you can tell from the sky, you can't actually see the sun."

Twilight looked up and realized she was right, the sun wasn't there and yet it was as bright as day. "So everything is truly run by magic here? Even the sun itself?"

"That's the point." Nova said happily.

"This is amazing!" Trixie spoke up. "What else does this place have?"

"Everything a city needs of course." Nova explained. "To name a few. We have schools, spas, libraries, homes to suit the needs of all kinds."

Rainbow Dash then smelled something, being in Pinkie's body she picked up on something sweet smelling. She then noticed a cafe called Magical delights and a blue mare with a blonde mane and tail selling cupcakes. "Cupcakes…."

"Oh are you hungry?" Nova asked noticing her looking at the mare. "Come on."

Nova went over to the mare. "Excuse me, Ms. Gaze?"

"Oh! Princess Nova. It's wonderful to see you again." The mare smiled at her princess. "Would you like a cupcake?"

"I would love one, in fact how about one for each of my friends here?" Nova said and took out a bag of bits. "There you go."

"Oh wow...royal bits...thank you so much Princess." The mare took the bits and then gave her a tray full of cupcakes.

"Please Shimmer Gaze, you don't have to be so formal with me." Nova smiled at her and used her magic to pass out the food to everyone. "This place has great treats."

Rainbow Dash ate the cupcake and her pink mane puffed up even more then normal. Being in Pinkie's body somehow made the cupcake taste even better. "Wow, Pinkie's taste buds are really good, this cupcake taste amazing!"

Pinkie nodded. "Even without my taste buds it tastes amazing!"

"I didn't know there would be so many new people." Shimmer Gaze pointed out. "Is everything okay?"

"These ponies lost their homes and I offered them a place to live for awhile as I fix their town." Nova explained.

"Always with the heart of gold my princess." Shimmer Gaze said with a bow.

Twilight looked up at Nova. "Wow, you are very respected princess Nova."

"I just do what I can for my subjects." Nova said. "Now come long everyone, there is a lot to see."

They explored the city and saw many magical sights. Twilight was a kid in a candy store in the library as they had books she had never even seen before. "Look at this! So many books!"

Most of the books seemed to glow, Twilight took one book and looked at the cover. "Dragon species?"

"Oh that's a book on dragons." Nova said. "It explains just about everything about Dragons."

"Really?" Twilight opened the book and read it a little. "Wow, this is great for knowing about Dragons."

"Does it have anything about Spike?" Rarity asked.

"Actually yes!" Twilight nodded. "I have to tell him as soon as we get back."

"What does it say?" Fluttershy spoke up.

"It says that the scales of a dragon show what kind of dragon they are. Red is a fire dragon and Blue is an ice dragon. But purple...is a royal dragon. Oh my goodness...Spike is a prince!" Twilight explained.

"He is?" Rainbow Dash looked at the book. "Wow...who would have thought."

The girls all gasped from this, Nova didn't really know what the big deal was. "You have a royal dragon?"

"I guess so, Spike was given to me when I was a child." Twilight said.

"You are one lucky pony. They are very rare." Nova said.

"Wait, they?" Twilight looked at her confused. "I thought Spike was one of a kind."

Nova laughed a little. "Are you serious? You have a dragon living with me and you don't know the first thing about him?"

"Well we don't really have anything on dragons." Twilight explained.

"Clearly someone planted the dragon egg without knowing the first thing about them." Nova looked over at Celestia annoyed.

"Do I have something on my face?" Rarity asked.

"No I meant the real...other one." Nova pointed out.

"It was probably another way to keep Twilight under her wing." Silverwind said. And Luna glared at him. "No offense princess."

"So what do you know about dragons?" Celestia asked.

"Actually we have a dragon nursery." Nova said. "The dragon lands just have so many eggs they were more then happy to let us raise some of their young."

"Your land seems to have everything doesn't it?" Celestia said annoyed. "You have all the answers don't you?"

Nova and Celestia locked eyes and their was clearly sparks. Twilight looked at this and then at Luna. "What's the story between them?"

Luna sighed as they walked away from the two fighting. "They have a history...a painful one."

"Can you tell us?" Rarity asked.

"Very well." Luna nodded. "They were once best friends. Long before Equestria was around."

"They were?" Twilight asked. "But they hate each other it seems."

"A long time ago they would do everything together. But one day Starswirl the bearded came into our lives and everything changed." Luna explained. "Starswirl came to us looking for a pupil, Nova was always better at magic then Celestia was. But Celestia's heart was always in the right place."

"You see Starswirl needed alicorns to be a symbol of Equestria, it was the first time all the races lived together after all." Luna Continued. "He didn't know which one to pick at first, so he had them preform trials, after several trials Celestia was picked...although Nova passed more trials then Celestia."

"So that's why they hate each other?" Pinkie asked.

"Well Nova should have been picked as she was the better one. But Starswirl had made his choice, it hurt Nova for a long time and she cut ties with us and left." Luna said. "Turns out she made this kingdom."

"Alicorns have a crazy history." Dusk Sparkle added.

"I wish our history was kinder." Luna said.

Nova and Celestia came over to them and they didn't look at each other but Nova spoke. "You can keep that book if you wish, shall we move on?"

Rainbow Dash didn't like being in Pinkie's body, she hated being on the ground as she was used to being in the air. She could tell the others were trying to adjust, but she didn't want to get used to this. Serenity noticed this and went over to her. "Are you okay?"

"I don't like being in some other pony's body. I know there isn't a cure right now, but how can everyone be calm about this?" Rainbow Dash asked worried.

Serenity sighed and sat with her. "Rainbow Dash, there isn't anything wrong with your old body or your new one. Just be happy you have one."

"What do you mean?" Rainbow Dash looked at her concerned.

"I was trapped in a gem for years, thousands of years. I didn't have a body for a long time, just my essence in a crystal prison. I was scared and even with my sister with me I felt alone. I grew to hate because of that and I did awful things, mind control. Attempted murder. Even burning a whole city." Serenity explained. "Rainbow Dash...don't turn out like me, be honest with your feelings, if you have something to say. Then say it."

Rainbow Dash nodded. "You have a point, thanks Serenity."

Rainbow Dash went over to her friends and started to talk to them. "Hey girls, how is everyone holding up?"

"To be honest. It's weird, I don't really care for it." Dusk Sparkle admitted. "My magic gone really sucks."

"I miss being able to fly." Shining Star agreed.

"I think we all have problems." Twilight added.

Twilight then noticed a Equestria emissary building. "Celestia? You have emissaries here?"

"Of course I do, I have emissaries in many lands." Celestia pointed out. "It would be silly if I didn't."

"Then how come we only just heard of these ponies?" Rarity asked, all the girls nodded and looked at Celestia. At this point it was no secret that Celestia didn't like to talk about Unicorn grove so Twilight ignored this and went over to the building, Fluttershy and the others quickly followed at her and Luna just shook her head.

"Oh Celestia, how many secrets are you holding back from us?" Luna asked.

"More then I'm proud of sister." Celestia admitted.

"You need to start telling me, you are not the only princess." Luna pointed out.

The girls went into the building and it was clearly from Equestria and a mare came out when she heard the door open. She was a yellow pegasi and had a red mane and tail. She had the same color eyes as Fluttershy and her cutie mark was a flaming wing. "Greetings my little ponies. How may I help you?"

Fluttershy looked at her as if she had seen her before, Twilight was the first one to speak. "We are from Equestria actually, we're just looking."

"Ah, new to Unicorn Grove. Well my name is Skyfire and I work here to keep peace between our kingdoms." Skyfire explained. She then noticed Fluttershy and smiled at him. "Oh my."

Fluttershy noticed this and looked around thinking she was looking at Dusk because she was in her body, Skyfire came over to him and sized Fluttershy up. "Hello handsome~"

Fluttershy blushed trying to say something but couldn't find the words. "Oh..."

Rarity noticed this and jumped in to help her friend. "Excuse me?"

"Oh, Princess Celestia, I'm sorry I didn't notice you." Skyfire quickly bowed to her. "What brings you here?"

"Oh uh….just checking in. but this is my...royal guard Silverwind." Rarity tried to make her voice more like Celestia's.

"Well he is a handsome guard~" Skyfire then gave Fluttershy her card. "Call me sometime okay? I'd love to get to know you better~"

Fluttershy took the card and she couldn't say anything so she quickly dashed outside. Skyfire smiled at this. "I love it when they play hard to get~"

"Excuse me." Rarity quickly followed after Fluttershy and saw Fluttershy trying to breath. Rarity put her hoof on her back and rubbed it to help her relax. "What happened back there Fluttershy?"

"I'm sorry, I'm not used to being flirted with and….Skyfire is family." Fluttershy admitted.

"Family? Whatever do you mean?" Rarity asked.

"I mean...Skyfire is my older sister...I haven't seen her since I was a baby." Fluttershy explained.

"Oh my...she didn't even see your body, and she...flirted with you...wow." Rarity didn't really know what to say. "That must have been so strange for you."

"It was...but what can I say to her looking like this?" Fluttershy pointed out.

"You have a point..." Rarity sighed. "Well now you know where she is, when we get our bodies back you can see her."

"Thanks Rarity." Fluttershy felt a little better and Rarity sat with her as the others talked to Skyfire.

Nova was with Paradise and Serenity listening to what happened to them, she wasn't shocked at all about what Celestia and Luna did. She was however shocked that Starswirl would do such things. Paradise then saw an old looking stallion in a red cloak.

"Princess Nova?" The stallion approached them. "May I speak with you?"

"Who is that?" Serenity asked.

"Oh, ladies, this is my adviser Burn out." Nova introduced them. "He helps me keep track of anything I need."

Burn out rolled his old eyes. "I must talk to you in private princess."

"Very well. Excuse me ladies." Nova went around the corner street. "So what is it?"

"We don't have the funds to pay for ALL the damage Canterlot had gone through. We need to increase tax or pay from your own pocket." Burn out explained. "We can't keep being so charitable."

"I can't charge my people so much, it wouldn't be right." Nova explained. "There must be something we can do...anything else."

"Then you have to cancel the rebuilding of that city." Burn out pointed out to her. "Please princess, you don't have to show up Celestia anymore, it's okay take their money. They worship you."

"I...I can't..." Nova said frowning.

"Then might I suggest something?" Burn out pointed out. "BUY the deed to Equestria."

Nova looked at him shocked. "I couldn't do that to Celestia. I mean sure I don't like her but that...it's to much."

"If you buy the deed under them, they can't stop us them. Think about it, if you own Equestria, their royal funds are yours. You could pay to fix the town and much more with it. It might be cruel at first but we need the money." Burn out explained.

"Isn't there another way?" Nova asked hoping there was something, anything else she could do.

"Look at it this way, you could rule two kingdoms and save them both, or lose your kingdom and have nothing left." Burn out pointed out.

Nova didn't like ether choice. She sighed and nodded. "Very well Burn out, you have made your point. But how can I get the deed to the kingdom?"

"That will be easier then you think. Celestia and Luna have made many mistakes. Bring this to the attention of the princess meet. They will have to give someone else the kingdom. That someone will be you." Burn out explained.

Nova realized he was right, she had to go and do this. For her people. She then walked away and the old stallion grinned evilly. Nova went over to Twilight and the gang. "I'm sorry girls. I have to go….something came up."

"Nova?" Twilight looked at her confused before she teleported away. She didn't know what happened but Nova was depressed from it.

"Well have a good time at Unicorn Grove everyone." Skyfire said before going back to work.

The girls left and found the city to be beautiful. There was nothing dirty or out of place, what caught Luna's attention was the fact there was no crime. Everyone got along and when someone did fight they fixed it rather fast.

Luna noticed a married couple fighting, something about a letter from a friend or something strange. The mare sighed and explained her actions which made the stallion hug her and they made up. Luna didn't realize how much problems Equestria had until she saw the ponies of Unicorn grove.

Twilight was the one that said it out loud however. "This place is amazing, how does it stay so cheerful?"

"Excuse me?" A mare called out, she wasn't very loud so it took a few tries before Twilight noticed her calling.

Twilight noticed she was a gray unicorn with messy blue hair, she had glasses on and her cutie mark was a book with sparkles around it. "Excuse me? I'm looking for Elemental class. Can you help me?"

Twilight noticed they were near a college. There was a magical sign with it's name above them. It was called Sunlight U. Twilight smiled at this. "A school? So cool!"

"Sunlight U, I heard this place is the best place for learning magic aside from Celestia's school for gifted unicorns." Luna said.

"You knew about this place?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Not really. I am just reading from this guide." Luna said taking out a guide book for best spots in Maretopia.

"Oh you are all tourists, I'm sorry to bother you." The mare said before turning away. Twilight wanted to help her and look into this place so she quickly ran up beside her.

"Wait up, can I see your school?" Twilight asked.

"I don't mind." She said getting a book out of her bag and going into the building with her class in it. Twilight walked through the halls and noticed how amazing it all was. There was students from all over, some good and some bad but they accepted everyone.

The bad students weren't bad ponies or anything, they just lacked in certain magical areas. Twilight turned to the mare curious as a child In a candy store. "So what's your name?"

"Me? Oh I'm Sun Gaze." Sun Gaze said as they walked.

The others walked in the school and Shining Star looked at Twilight and Celestia. Celestia wasn't really into being here, she wasn't really into being in Unicorn Grove. Twilight was more then into it, in fact she really liked it here.

Twilight went into the Elemental class with Sun Gaze and noticed it was a lot like her old school. In fact she saw a lot of herself in Sun Gaze, her face was always in the books and she had no friends. "Sun Gaze? I'm glad you finally showed up."

Her teacher spoke annoyed because she was a little late, all the seats around her were empty. "Sorry Teacher, but I'm here now."

Now class we will be talking about the healing properties of magic, most don't realize but you can heal just about anything with magic." The teacher went on with the lesson.

Twilight looked at Sun Gaze again and realized that Sun Gaze was just like her. At least when she was young. "Can I ask you something? Do you have any friends?"

"Friends? Why would I need that?" Sun Gaze asked keeping her eyes on her books.

That was enough to confirm it. Sun Gaze is just like she was. "Are you happy with no friends?"

"Sure I am. I have all these books." Sun Gaze said.

" _Wow...was I really like this?_ " Twilight thought to herself. She looked over at Shining Star in her own body and then it hit her. As a filly she never had a childhood. She knew that before but it only hit her now.

Being in a filly's body opened her eyes to a lot of things. But this was something that changed her. She had a chance to be a filly now. She motioned Shining Star over to her, her grown up filly came over with a smile. "Shining Star? Can you talk to her?"

"Me? What can I do?" Shining Star asked.

"Well you are in my body, can you help this girl?" Twilight asked.

"But I'm not a princess like you mommy. What can I do?" Shining Star pointed out.

"You are a princess, your my little princess." Twilight said. "And I believe in you."

Shining Star gulped and went over to Sun Gaze. "Uh...hi."

Sun Gaze looked over at Shining Star and noticed she was the princess of friendship. "Oh you must be Twilight Sparkle."

"Ye-yeah, that's me. So my mom-I mean daughter here seems to believe you have a problem." Shining Star tried her best to be like her mother.

"No, I don't have one. Thanks anyway." Sun Gaze explained.

"Mom?" Shining Star looked at Twilight again.

"It's okay, just take a deep breath." Twilight said.

Shining Star nodded and tried again. "I think your problem is you have no friends."

"I don't need friends though. I have all my studying to do, I don't have have time for others. Can I get back to work now?" Sun Gaze pointed out getting annoyed.

"So-sorry." Shining Star walked away from them and Dusk Sparkle came over to her.

"Are you alright?" Dusk asked.

"I couldn't talk to a stranger about life problems…am I a bad princess?" Shining Star pondered.

"It's not easy following in the hoof steps of our parents. I mean Celestia is the oldest guardian of Equestria and Twilight is a…a...well she saved the world a bunch right?" Dusk pointed out. "What I'm trying to say is, we have some major shoes to fill. You can't expect to live up to all that in a single day."

"Wow...when did you get so wise?" Shining Star asked.

"Actually being in Fluttershy's body has really gotten me thinking about a lot of things." Dusk Sparkle explained. "It's great! It's like this body is free from something heavy!"

"Really? I wish I felt so relaxed. It feels like all everything I am is a burden. Like if I mess up even once everyone will lose faith in me." Shining Star pointed out. "These feelings must be from being in another pony's body."

Twilight sighed and turned to Sun Gaze. "You know? Twilight Sparkle worked hard like you are. As a filly she just kept her eyes glued to the books and didn't leave room for any friends. She grew up very lonely."

"Hm?" Sun Gaze stopped and looked at her. "What do you mean?"

"What I'm trying to say is...don't do what I-what Twilight did. She focused on growing up more then being her real age. She didn't get any friends for years and didn't really see what she was missing. I'm not saying to stop studying, but don't let that be the only thing in your life." Twilight explained.

Sun Gaze gave it some thought and nodded. "Okay kiddo, I'll try it your way for a bit."

Sun Gaze then moved from her seat and sat with some other mares and they get to talking as the lesson went on. She even grew a smile. Twilight turned back to her friends and went over to them focused on Shining Star. "Star….I'm sorry I put so much pressure on you."

Shining Star wanted to hug her but it wasn't the same. "It's okay mom, I know I messed up."

"No, Shining Star. I've been unfair to you and Dusk. I've been wanting you two to be like me and being in your body has made me realize that you two need to grow on your own. I can't rush you like I rushed myself and it's time that I act my age as well." Twilight explained.

They all looked at her and Twilight noticed she was glowing. "Huh?"

The glow then went to Shining Star and they blinked, Twilight spoke trying to figure out what was going on. "What the?"

She realized she was back in her own body. "Hey I'm back in my own body!"

"But what about Shining Star?" Dusk asked as Shining Star's body didn't move. "Is she okay?"

But how did you get back in your body?" Fluttershy asked.

Shining Star shook her head and smiled. "Hey I'm back too!"

"Are you okay?" Dusk asked again.

"I figured it out." Shining Star said with a smile. "The cure isn't magical it's in us!"

"That's right, we're in these bodies to learn something we're missing. For me it was my childhood." Twilight said.

"And what about me?" Shining Star asked.

"Well did you learn anything new?" Rarity asked.

Shining Star thought about it. She then nodded. "I did, why I was in mommy's body was to learn I didn't have to be her for her to love me. I'm not Celestia or Twilight, and that's fine."

"So you were in my body to learn that you don't have to be us to be loved by us." Celestia said. "So now we know what to do to fix our problems."

"Come on, let's go." Twilight said as they all walked away from the school.


	10. Chapter 10

Nova stood in front of a council. There was all kinds of princesses there. Each one was from another country and kingdom. Nova had a magical board up and there was Celestia's face on it. "This mare has done terrible things."

The other princesses looked at her with judgment, they couldn't believe that the star child of Equestria could make any mistakes. One of the princesses was an earth pony, she was princess Goldmane. She had a blonde mane and tail and her fur was a beautiful orange and she had green eyes. In fact she looked just like Applejack without the hat and her cutie mark was a royal wand. "I'm sorry princess Nova, but Celestia has done nothing out of order. What your saying it a bit farfetched."

"Goldmane is right. What you say is absurd." Another princess spoke.

"It's all here, she sealed her own sister away for one thousand years. She disobeyed her teacher Starswirl the bearded and dated a stallion from another world. She mentally abused her pupils. One of which ran away to another world and the other doesn't even know how to use alicorn magic. She even sealed away innocent alicorns because they could have been a danger. Not would have, could have. And this is just what I know of. She has made mistakes time and time again. Can we really trust a kingdom to something like that?" Nova explained. She knew all of this because she grew up with Celestia, and she spied on her, but she wasn't going to say that.

The princesses spoke amongst each other and Goldmane rolled her eyes. "Nova what do you want? If this has been going on for so long why bring this up now?"

Nova was impressed by Goldmane, she didn't beat around the bush. "I'm glad you bring that up Ms. Goldmane. I wish to have the deed to Equestria and take their land."

They all stopped and looked at her. Goldmane's eyes went wide. "Are you kidding? This is some sort of joke right?"

"No I am not joking, if I get her land then I will make it better. I can rebuild their cities. Look at my work in my own kingdom, not one bad seed, Celestia has been giving her land away to just about anything that moves. Even apples. Why I wouldn't be surprised if she surrendered her kingdom to dust bunnies at this rate!" Nova continued belittling Celestia. It didn't feel as good as she hoped it would.

"Actually I did hear about that but I thought it was just a rumor." A princess added.

"She even made Twilight Sparkle a princess before she was ready and Twilight isn't even a true princess with a kingdom, she abused alicorn magic like it was nothing." Nova explained. "Do you really want someone like this as a princess? Not just that but we trust her with the SUN itself."

They all looked at each other and thought about it. She brought up good points. Goldmane looked at the board Nova had up. She didn't like talking about a princess behind her back and this wasn't just any princess. It was Celestia. One of the oldest princesses there was. But someone that made so many mistakes in control of the very sun….she took out the deed for Equestria from the princess vault and looked at it. "This feels wrong..but.."

"Wait, are we sure about this?" Another princess spoke up. "Maybe we should do a trial run."

Goldmane nodded at this. "Good idea. Nova, you will not get the deed."

Goldmane put the deed back and then took out another deed, it was looked just like the main deed but it was a trial run. "If you do clean up Celestia's messes and complete your goals you will get the deed."

"Thank you very much." Nova said happily taking it. She then walked away and the other princesses looked at each other concerned.

"I hope this is wise." A princess said.

"That's why we are going her just a trial. If she can fix Equestria better then Celestia has in a short amount of time then we give her the real deed. But I am shocked that Celestia would let her kingdom fall behind so much." Goldmane explained.

"Is there anything we can do?" Another princess asked.

"Leave it to me ladies. I will go and blend into the common ponies to see how it is run myself." Goldmane said getting a fancy cowgirl hat from her bag. "I've always wanted to wear this anyway."

"Alright. Then we will see with our own eyes what these alicorn princesses have been doing." Another princess said before they left.

Meanwhile back in Unicorn Grove Shining Star was looking at her hooves. She was happy to be back to normal but she still had doubts. She was happy that Twilight cared about her but something was bugging her. She didn't doubt Twilight or anything.

She just had a feeling that something was still off. Maybe she was just over thinking things but she could hear that voice in the back of her head again. "Star?"

She turned to see Celestia looking at her concerned. She knew that it wasn't actually Celestia as Rarity was in her body. "Are you okay?"

"I..." Shining Star sighed. She knew she could talk to Rarity about her true feelings. "I really messed up with that girl Sun Gaze."

"Sweetie." Rarity sat beside her and smiled. "Listen, it's just like how you got your own body back. You are not Twilight. Or Celestia. You are your own pony, you don't have to follow in their hoofsteps. Your sister understands that. So why do you keep wondering that?"

"Doesn't it bother anypony else that me and my sister are clones?" Shining Star pointed out. "If I'm a clone...should I have my own life? Do I deserve one? Being a changeling clone of a princess...I...I'm honestly scared."

"But you aren't just some clone, why are you scared?" Rarity looked at her worried.

"What if I'm going to turn evil? Just like Chrysalis...one day I could wake up and want to hurt my family and friends. If I'm a clone...then..." Shining Star choked a little.

Rarity didn't know what to say, she couldn't let this continue though. She then hugged her gently. "You think to much about the bad things."

"Huh?" Shining Star looked at her confused.

"Listen to me Star, I panic over small things all the time, I understand how you feel. But if you always worry of what could be then you won't be able to move on. I will tell you right now that you are not a clone, you are a little girl with a big heart. You are the star in Twilight's eye. Not her shadow." Rarity explained.

"Wow...you always know what to say Rarity, thank you." Shining Star stood up and smiled. "You're right, I can't think about the bad stuff. I'm not going to live in a shadow ether….but why did I get my body back?"

"Because deep down, you realized this before I told you. You just wanted to hear it I bet." Rarity explained again.

Shining Star nodded and walked off. She wanted to look around now that she felt better. Twilight had seen this and smiled going over to Rarity. "Good job Rarity, I couldn't have put it better myself."

"Well I just said the truth." Rarity admitted.

"Now we need to get you and the rest back in their bodies." Twilight admitted. "So...why are you in Celestia's body?"

"I don't know, but I am guessing like you and Star me and Celestia will have to find our differences." Rarity said.

While they were talking Rainbow Dash was bored being in Pinkie's body. She would shake her mane every once in awhile and something would fall out like her party cannon and cookies or even balloons. Applejack came over to her and raised an eyebrow. "What are you doing?"

"Nothing..." Rainbow Dash said.

"Ah bet your depressed because you can't fly huh?" Applejack pointed out fluttering her wings poorly. She didn't know how to fly after all.

"Okay you got me, without my wings I feel so useless." Rainbow Dash admitted.

"Look I don't like being in you're body ether. I can't use these wings and I feel silly without my hat. But just sitting around like that won't solve anything." Applejack said. "And like Twilight showed us, we need to figure out what's holding us back."

"Well why would I be in Pinkie's body? Pinkie can't fly and I have no problems with her. Sure she can be a little annoying at times but I have nothing against her." Rainbow Dash said.

"How about instead of just feeling bad about yourself you actually look into the problem?" Applejack put bluntly.

Rainbow Dash nodded and got up. "I can try that I guess."

Rainbow Dash looked at herself in a nearby pool of water. She remembered what Misty Gale told her about how she didn't to accept others talents and such. She learned that Fluttershy had many talents she didn't even know about and now Fluttershy was going to work on her singing career. So she wondered what she was lacking.

To her it was her wings, what sort of lesson was there without wings? If she couldn't fly there wasn't much point in life. She sighed and kicked the pool a little. She looked over and saw Dusk in Fluttershy's body when she heard a voice. "Oh my..."

Rainbow Dash looked over at the voice and saw a filly looking at a poster. It was about a talent show. She went over to the filly and spoke. "Is something wrong?"

The filly looked over at her and nodded. "Yeah...my family wants me to enter and win this talent show..but I have no talent...how can I win something with something I don't have?"

"No talent? What do you mean?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Well look." The filly showed her blank flank to Rainbow Dash. "I don't have any talent. I don't even have a cutie mark."

"So?" Rainbow Dash looked at her confused. "Everyone has a talent...do you see that mare over there with the pink mane?"

The filly looked at Fluttershy and nodded. "Yeah."

"Her talent is taking care of animals. But she's trying to do something else. She has dreams outside of animals like singing and other things." Rainbow Dash pointed out.

"So even though her talent has nothing to do with her dreams she still tries them?" The filly asked.

"Basically yeah." Rainbow Dash nodded. "And don't think about what your family wants. What do you want?"

"What do I want?" The filly looked back at the talent show. "I want to be someone like Daring Do!"

"Then do all you can to go for that goal. Only you can do what you want." Rainbow Dash said.

"Thanks lady!" The filly said before running off.

"Sense when did you give out advice?" Twilight asked coming over to her friend. "I'm impressed."

"Thanks Twilight, but I was just talking about something I learned awhile back thanks to a friend." Rainbow Dash pointed out.

"Well it was good advice." Twilight said happily. "I know you have had problems with Fluttershy in the past, but I think your finally seeing her in a new light."

"The truth is..." Rainbow Dash nodded a little. "I started to hate Fluttershy when she got into the Wonderbolts. I thought I was the only one good enough from Ponyville. I only thought about myself, then Misty Gale showed me there was more to life then the wonderbolts and I needed to be there for Fluttershy, she was right...flying isn't everything like I made it out to be. I had wings for brains."

Twilight smiled at this and Rainbow Dash glowed. Rainbow Dash looked at herself and in seconds she was in her own body again. "Whoa!? Hey!"

Applejack shook her head and realized she was now in Pinkie's body. "Hey I'm an earth pony again!"

"I'm back to myself!" Rainbow Dash flapped her wings and went into the air. "Yes!"

"So it's true, it's all about learning who you are through the eyes of another." Twilight said. "That's the cure."

"But then why am I in Pinkie's body?" Applejack asked.

"Because you need to learn something just like we did." Rainbow Dash pointed out.

Applejack didn't know what to think, she was in Rainbow Dash's body for a reason. She knew she didn't get along with Rainbow Dash all that much. She never really had a problem with Pinkie, she looked at Pinkie who was in Dusk's body.

Pinkie was bouncing around eating whatever sweets she could making Dusk fat. "Mmm! my filly taste buds are even better then my old ones!"

Applejack found it annoying and went over to her. "Pinkie? What are you doing? That's not your body to ruin."

"Ruin?" Pinkie looked at her confused. "I'm just eating all new food."

"But you are making Dusk fat. Look at that belly." Applejack pointed to her stomach.

Pinkie looked at her stomach and giggled. "Oh! Hehe! That's what you meant. Sorry Dusk."

Dusk smiled at this. "It's okay!"

"See? She's fine with it." Pinkie said.

"Still being in these other bodies, we have to be careful." Applejack said. "We can't goof off."

"Applejack, we're pretty much family. But you need to relax and smell the flowers." Pinkie said taking out some flowers from a bag Pinkie's body was carrying.

Applejack rolled her eyes and sniffed them just to amuse Pinkie and suddenly they spit water in her face. Applejack wiped her face. "Yeah...relax."

Shining Star and Dusk overheard them and then got an idea. Dusk came over to them and smiled. "Hey Applejack? How about we go over there?"

Dusk pointed to an amusement park. "They have fun rides over there!"

"We really shouldn't." Applejack pointed out.

"No let's do it!" Pinkie said. "It'll be fun!"

"It would help get your minds off of this whole ordeal." Twilight explained. "You should go."

"Fine, I'll go if that's what ya'll want." Applejack said giving in.

"Great!" Dusk said taking the two of them with her to the gates.

"Why why aren't we going?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Because it's for Applejack mainly silly." Shining Star explained. "Dusk has a plan."

"She does?" Twilight asked.

"Yep. But now it's time." Shining Star said looking around.

"Time for what?" Rainbow Dash looked at her confused.

"Time I look in there!" Shining Star pointed to a magic shop and ran in.

"Fillies..." Twilight sighed.

"She's your kid." Rainbow Dash smiled. "Go in after her."

"Star! Wait up!" Twilight went in after her.

"So...you girls want to do anything?" Rainbow Dash turned to the others. She then realized everyone had left and she was alone. "Oh come on!"

She then went after Twilight. Applejack, Pinkie Pie and Dusk Sparkle came to the entrance of the Amusement park. Dusk went over to the ticket pony. "Three tickets please."

The ticket pony looked at the three of them and smiled. "We don't get your kind of couple very often go right in."

He magical gave them each a ticket and they walked in. Applejack looked at the ticket pony funny as they passed him and then turned to her friends. "What did he mean by that?"

Pinkie Pie however knew what he meant. "Don't worry about it. We're here to have fun."

"How can we have fun? After all that's happened to us." Applejack pointed out. "Serenity and Paradise attacked us. Then we got thrown into different bodies. Not to mention everything else. How can we be so calm?"

"We are here because you worry to much." Dusk said. "Now come on!"

The three of them looked around and went on a few rides. Applejack was still tense and didn't really want to relax but Dusk and Pinkie were having a blast. Applejack just didn't get it. She watched them bounce over to a ride and jump on getting spun around until they got sick.

Applejack rolled her eyes as Pinkie threw chunks in a trash can and Dusk patted her back. "You ate to much."

"But it was all so good..." Pinkie said before laughing the gross feeling off.

"Hey Applejack!" Dusk called out to her.

Applejack went over to them. "What do you want?"

"Look!" Dusk went over to an apple tossing game. "You hit the targets with apples and win a prize!"

Applejack looked at the game and then at Dusk. "Do I have to?"

"Just try it. You've been watching me and Pinkie have fun, but you haven't had any." Dusk said.

Dusk took some money from Fluttershy's bag and paid for a game, the game pony then gave her three apples and Applejack took one. She looked at the targets and then tossed one missing it completely. "This is stupid!"

"Well duh, if you think like that it is. But if you relax and forget your troubles you'll do great." Pinkie pointed out.

Applejack took a deep breath and calmed herself. She knew she was in Rainbow's body but why did that have to change her? She then realized what they were talking about. She then tossed another apple and hit the target right on the mark.

"Hey you did it!" Pinkie said happily.

Applejack smiled and did it again with the last apple hitting the target again. "Yeah! Now this is fun!"

The game pony smile and gave her a stuffed dragon toy. "Here you miss."

"Awesome! Again!" Applejack paid the game pony for another round.

"I think my work here is done." Dusk said with a smile.

"You really are Twilight's daughter Dusk." Pinkie said.

Applejack hit all the targets with each apple and the game pony gave her another prize, this time was the grand prize, a set of Power pony rings there was six in the box. "A plush and a set of rings? Cool!"

Applejack smiled and then suddenly she glowed. "Huh?"

She however wasn't the only one as Dusk herself was glowing. Pinkie's eyes grew wide as she was suddenly in Fluttershy's body and Dusk was in her own body. "Hey I'm in my body!" Dusk said happily. "It must have been helping Applejack!"

Pinkie smiled as her new hair got in her eyes. "Fluttershy's body feels nice….and even smells good!"

"Applejack?" Dusk went over to Pinkie's body.

"Where am I?" Trixie's voice came from Pinkie's body. "What the?"

"Trixie!?" Pinkie jumped.

"I was just at a show." Trixie admitted.

Meanwhile Applejack realized everything around her had changed and she was at some sort of play. Applejack then noticed she had popcorn and shrugged. Normally this would bother her but but she learned to roll with what she was dealt with and ate some popcorn watching the show.

Trixie looked at the prizes in her arms. "I'm guessing Applejack learned something special and got her body back?"

"She did!" Dusk said. "And so did I!"

"What was it?" Trixie asked.

"Applejack learned to relax and just roll with what the hoof your dealt, and to have fun." Pinkie said. "And Dusk learned to overcome any problem even if it's a friendship problem...or getting eaten alive."

"You knew about that?" Dusk looked at her shocked.

"Of course I did, I was in your body, I could feel your fears and hopes." Pinkie said. "Good job on overcoming it."

"Well I did...for the most part." Dusk smiled.

"So now Twilight, Shining Star, Rainbow Dash, Dusk and Applejack have their bodies back?" Trixie asked. "That's good, now how can I get my body back…and why am I still an earth pony?"

They just looked at her unable to answer. Meanwhile Serenity was looking over some magical nicknacks, she wondered if Rainbow Dash would like to learn magic. It was hard due to her being a pegasi and all, but she figured with all the magical stuff around maybe there was something to at least bond with Rainbow Dash.

Twilight, Shining Star and Rainbow Dash walked in the shop and Twilight noticed Serenity looking at things. "Hello Serenity."

Serenity looked back at her and smiled. "Hello princess."

Twilight smiled back at her. "So how are you doing after...you know?"

To be honest...I hate myself for what I did. I hurt people and their homes, I ruined lives...I was so angry at the world..at Celestia and Luna." Serenity said frowning now.

"We all make mistakes. And you had good reasons to be angry….I didn't know what it was like to be a mother until Shining Star and Dusk Sparkle came into my life. I wouldn't understand how you felt without them." Twilight explained.

"What do you mean?" Serenity looked at her confused.

"There is an evil Changeling named Chrysalis stole them and even tried to eat them, it was scary in many ways...when I lost them I was so angry I couldn't think of anything else." Twilight continued. "So I know how you feel. The difference is your anger stayed with you for years. If that was me...I'd probably be in your shoes. So you have nothing to worry about. What matters is what you do now."

"I can see why Celestia made you a princess. You know just what to say." Serenity nodded. "Thank you Twilight, I have to focus on what I can do now. I wish I could be a mother to Rainbow Dash...but I know I can't be one, she's a teenager and she grew up with another mother. I can't step in her life and expect to have what I lost. So I'm thinking of starting over."

"Starting over?" Twilight cocked her head.

"My sister gives life. I can ask her to impregnate me and I can be a mother again in a couple months." Serenity said.

Twilight smiled at this. "Wow, Paradise has a really special power, and if you do that Rainbow Dash will have a sister."

"That's true." Serenity added. "I can't thank you enough for what you have done for me."

"To be honest a lot of stuff I believed in have been shaken lately. I'm just glad to help anyone after everything." Twilight said.

"Equestria is a good land. Celestia and Luna aren't truly bad. They just didn't have anyone to guide them." Serenity said. "Starswirl was wise and powerful. But knowing how girls worked? He didn't know the first thing."

"I guess even the greatest of us make mistakes huh?" Twilight added.

"All the time." Serenity nodded. "It's just a part of life."

"Well I hope that you and Rainbow Dash can still be close." Twilight said.

"Tell me something. Are you close to your mother?" Serenity asked.

"My mother?" Twilight thought about it and shook her head. "I wish I could say yes..but I haven't talked to her in a long time. She was there for my brother's wedding and when Flurry Heart was born. But something always came up and I never really talked to her."

"Maybe when you get a chance you should. She would love to see you I bet." Serenity said. "Why don't you get her something from the shop?"

"You know? Now that I think about it. I don't actually know what she likes." Twilight admitted.

"She'll like anything as long as it comes from you." Serenity added.

Twilight nodded, she then looked around the shop and went up to the counter looking at the jewelry. She noticed they were made from gems and metal she hadn't seen before. "Excuse me? I'm looking for a gift for my mom. Can you help me?"

The mare behind the counter smiled at her. "I have just the thing."

She turned around and brought out a case, she then put it on the counter and opened it revealing a glowing clear gem. "This is a special ring, it was made from a gem from an era long ago. Some ponies believe it was made from a race long gone."

"That's rare...it's probably way out of my price range." Twilight said.

"It is in the millions. So yeah." The mare nodded and put it away. "The problem with rare gems is they always cost a ton."

"Yeah, so you have anything else?" Twilight asked.

"How about this?" The mare took out a dragon scale. "This is a love dragon scale. It grants good luck to the one wearing it. I can have it turned into a ring, necklace or just anything you want."

"Now that's something my mom could enjoy. How about a necklace?" Twilight pointed out after thinking about it.

"You got it Ms." The mare then went into the back with it.

Meanwhile princess Nova had the deed and was finally back to her castle. Her adviser Burn out came up to her as soon as she arrived. "Princess?"

"I have the deed." Nova said. "Now I can get to work without worry."

"Yes, the deed to the greatest kingdom in the world. And all you want to do is fix a city." Burn out said almost in disgust.

"Excuse me?" Nova looked at her confused. She had never heard him sound like that before.

Burn out then used his magic to rip away the deed from her bag. Nova looked even more confused. "Burn out? What is the meaning of this!?"

"Thanks to this deed I no longer need you, always so kind and foolish. Thinking you can help everyone just with the kindness of your heart. It's laughable." Burn out said annoyed and then suddenly a cage magically appeared around Nova.

"What!?" Nova looked and saw her guards come up to them. "Guards, stop him at once!"

They just looked at her not moving. Burn out grinned at this. "It's amazing how loyalty can be bought."

"No…" Nova's ears dropped. She was shocked that everyone she trusted betrayed her like this. "How could you…"

The guards almost looked sorry for a minute and then turned away from her. Burn out then spoke up. "Take her to the dungeon, I have work to do in my new land."

With that Burn out walked away and Nova was taken into the throne room, she looked at her guards, her heart clearly broken. "Everything I've done...none of you cared? Was everything I did mean so little to you?"

One of the guards pushed in a part of the wall and a secret door opened. The captain of the guards then used his magic to bring her down into it. Nova didn't even know they had a dungeon. She never needed one. One of the rookie guards followed and the captain tossed her into a cell. Nova tried to use her magic but the cell blocked her magic so she couldn't do anything.

"Goodbye princess, enjoy being alone." The captain said locking the cell and leaving.

Nova started to cry, everything she did, everything she worked on. It was meaningless. The rookie looked at her with sad eyes. "Princess...I'm sorry."

He turned away and left sealing the wall back into place leaving Nova in the dark.


	11. Chapter 11

Silverwind felt really weird, one he couldn't fly and two he was now a she thanks to being in Starlight's body. Silverwind looked at herself in the mirror, he had to admit Starlight was very pretty. But why was he put into her body? It didn't really make sense.

"Excuse me ma'am?" A stallion asked coming up to her. "Are you okay? You seem lost."

"I'm going through a lot." Silverwind said.

"Wow...your voice is a..a bit manly." The stallion pointed out. "Do you need some help? Maybe see a doctor?"

"I'm actually doing just fine." Silverwind said annoyed. "My voice is fine as well thank you."

Silverwind quickly got out of there, he really didn't want to deal with this confusion. It had only been a short time, he needed to think. All this happened during his first day on the job. He had walked for awhile and didn't realize he had walked into one of the royal gardens.

"Huh?" Silverwind looked around the garden, it was very beautiful actually. Lush and green with flowers he never saw before. Then he saw a young mare watering some of the flowers.

He didn't say anything at first but she noticed him as well and went over to him. "Greetings Ms. Can I help you?"

"Sorry, I just got a bit lost." Silvewind admitted.

"My name is Komono. And you are?" Komono introduced herself.

"My name is Silverwind." Silvermind smiled at her.

"Isn't that a boy's name?" Komono asked.

"Yeah, long story." Silverwind added.

"So what brings you here?" Komono asked. "Most who get lost come here have something they need help with. So what is wrong Silverwind?"

"Well...you got me, I am worried if I'm any good to be a royal guard for Celestia and Luna. On my first day on the job I failed to keep anyone safe. Are my skills good enough?" Silverwind expressed his concern.

"So you think yourself weak?" Komono put bluntly.

"Ah...I guess so." Silverwind said. "What can someone who's talent is combat do in this day and age?"

"A talent for combat?" Komono looked at him confused.

"I train all the time, I know pretty much everything about weapons. But how does that help anyone I want to protect?" Silverwind explained.

"You know? I think you know the answer. You just doubt yourself." Komono pointed out. She then took a flower from the garden and slipped it into Starlight's hair. "Don't lose faith in yourself. Don't think about your talents. Just be yourself."

"Just be myself huh?" Silverwind looked at the flower and then nodded. "You know? Your right. I have to focus on what I can do. Not what I could have done."

Komono smiled at this and Silverwind ran off. He went back to the city faster then he thought and saw Rarity. Who he knew was Celestia in her body. "Princess?"

Celestia turned and smiled at him. "Hello Starlight."

"Actually it's me Silverwind." Silverwind came over to her. "Princess?"

"Yes Silverwind?" Celestia cocked her head.

"Why did you make me a guard? I can't do much guarding and I'm nobody special." Silverwind explained.

"Because I believe there is more to you then that." Celestia explained. "I also need someone I can count on. And you Silverwind have something most stallions don't."

"What's that?" Silverwind asked.

"That's simple. You have heart." Celestia added. "You have the passion to get things done. Most guards take the job because it pays well and they hardly have to work. Barely any of them train. In fact most of my guards normally just end up looking through mail that comes for me."

Silverwind didn't know what to say. But he couldn't help but smile. Celestia continued. "I watched you train, day and night you would attack those targets trying to get your swing just right. You even went into the forest and fought animals bigger then you to train. You would even be kind to them after a fight. This is why I picked you to be a guard."

Silverwind felt a whole lot better. He doubted himself over something he couldn't stop. What was all that training for if he gave up so fast? "Princess...I'm sorry I doubted myself."

"I'm glad to hear that." Celestia smiled. "Now how about you guard me over some tea. Shall we?"

Silverwind wasn't sure of that was flirting or a joke. But he went with it. "As you command princess."

Before they got anywhere however Starlight's body glowed. Meanwhile with Fluttershy. She was honestly worried about a lot of things. Mostly the fact her long lost sister was here. She knew she worked away from Equestria but didn't know she worked all the way in Unicorn Grove.

She wanted to say something, she just wanted to talk to her and be close to her. Unlike her brother Skyfire actually made something of her life. It was thanks to her that Fluttershy wanted to do something with her life.

Now she was stuck in some stallion's body and there was no hope to get back to her own body as far as she knew. She noticed the animals around her didn't get close or anything like she was used to. But the fact she was in another body didn't help.

"Hey there you are." Fluttershy heard a familiar voice behind her. She turned and saw Skyfire walking up to her. "Oh it's...you?"

"Forgot my name already huh?" Skyfire said sounding a little hurt. But it was a playful act. "Well I'm not surprised. You are quite attractive after all."

Fluttershy blushed from this. She couldn't say she was her sister. She wouldn't believe her anyway. "I uh..."

"Shy huh? That's even cuter." Skyfire said getting really close to her. "So tell me, why are you out here all alone?"

"I'm just...thinking." Fluttershy admitted.

"About?" Skyfire asked.

"Well...I have an older sister, I haven't seen her in years and she doesn't know who I am...and I don't know how to tell her that it's me." Fluttershy said nervously.

"You have a sister huh? I have a little sister and a little brother myself." Skyfire said. "My little sister is actually really famous."

"She is?" Fluttershy asked.

"Her name is Fluttershy, I haven't seen her since she was a baby, I heard she became friends with a princess, she is also a model, and even loves to sing." Skyfire said with a smile on her face.

"You keep track of your sister?" Fluttershy looked at her confused.

"Well as much as I can, of course. She's family after all." Skyfire nodded and took out a photo of Fluttershy as a baby. "Although I only have this to remember what she looks like. I wonder what she would look like now?"

Fluttershy teared up a little. She was happy that Skyfire remembered her. "Oh Skyfire..."

"Look at us, concerned for our families all the time, I send my family about half the money I make here. I heard it mainly goes to my lazy brother though." Skyfire pointed out.

"Say, if your sister was a wonderbolt. Would you be happy?" Fluttershy asked.

"A wonderbolt? Hmmm..." Skyfire thought about it and nodded. "I would be pretty proud of course. But I heard a lot of things about the wonderbolts. Not all good really."

"Well what about a wonderbolt in title but being an idol?" Fluttershy pointed out.

Skyfire looked at her confused. "You ask really specific questions. But if she was an idol. I would be happy. To be honest I would be happy for her whatever she did. As long as she's happy."

Fluttershy nodded blushing a little. "I'm glad to hear that."

Fluttershy knew she still nervous about being a singer. But she loved it so much. It was one of her hidden passions. That and sewing. She wanted to sing and be the pony she grew up wanting to me. But thanks to Skyfire she realized she didn't want to do it just because a few mares told her to try. She wanted to do it because it was her dream after all.

She was scared that nobody else would like that. But to be honest. Everyone she talked to was more then happy for her. She was going to do it. She was going to follow her dream and enjoy every minute of it with her friends and family.

"Instead of talking about family, how about we talk about us~?" Skyfire said leaning in close.

Fluttershy didn't see her get close due to how deep in thought she was. Without wanting to wait anymore Skyfire kissed her on the lips. This made Fluttershy blush like crazy and was in complete shock. "Mm!?"

Skyfire really enjoyed the kiss and Fluttershy's body glowed. She honestly thought it was a glow of passion or something. She broke the kiss and licked her lips a little. "Wow~"

Silverwind looked at what happened and blushed just like Fluttershy did. "Well...uh..."

"That was a good kiss cutie." Skyfire said taking his front leg with hers. "Let's go out."

"O-okay..." Silverwind had no idea what was going on but he was a gentleman to mares so he followed along.

Fluttershy on the other hoof found herself with Dusk and Trixie. "Where am I?"

"Fluttershy, your back in your own body!" Dusk said happily.

"I see you did as well." Fluttershy said with a smile.

"Well Trixie hasn't. Trixie needs her magic back." Trixie said annoyed in Pinkie's body.

"So do we know if anyone else is back to their bodies?" Fluttershy asked.

"Well we know that most of us are." Dusk admitted. "But there are still some that aren't."

"Then let's meet up with the others." Fluttershy said getting a move on. Dusk nodded and Trixie sighed following after them.

"Trixie really hates this...she misses her magic." Trixie said.

"Trixie?" Fluttershy looked at her as they walked. "I hate to say it. But your magic...well it's not very good."

"What do you mean?" Trixie asked. "Trixie is the greatest at magic."

"If that's true. Then why do you only do tricks and effects?" Dusk asked bluntly.

"Uh...well...Trixie..." Trixie didn't know what to say. She was right. She wasn't as good as she claimed to be.

"Now Dusk, it's okay if she isn't the best at magic." Fluttershy said.

Their words hurt Trixie more and more. The worst part was they weren't wrong. "Trixie needs some time alone."

Trixie walked off and Fluttershy and Dusk looked concerned but they let her be. Trixie walked for a bit and then noticed a few kids playing with their magic. "Everyone at Maretopia is so talented with their magic. Expect for Trixie..."

"Haha! What was that? So lame!" Trixie overheard one of the children talking.

She noticed a mare was having trouble using her magic and could barely lift a rock. And one of the other girls was making fun of her for it. "I'm not that bad, I'm going to be the best unicorn ever!"

Trixie smiled at this. She was impressed that the little filly was so strong willed even with bullies like that. She came out and spoke. "Excuse me?"

"Huh? Who are you?" The fillies all turned to her.

"Why does it matter if your skilled in magic or not?" Trixie asked. "The point is to have fun."

"What's the fun in failing all the time?" The bully asked.

"I know a unicorn that didn't give up, she was bullied all the time. But she always believed in herself. Her name is Trixie." Trixie said happily.

"You mean that same Trixie that travels around and can only use cheep tricks?" The filly asked.

Trixie looked at her shocked. "Wha?"

"I heard about her. She goes around and does nice things sure. But always talking about herself like. "I am the great and powerful Trixie. Trixie. Trixie. It's funny how she tries to mask her weakness behind her ego." The filly laughed and the other fillies joined her.

Trixie felt even worse now. She was hoping to help the filly have confidence, she thought she could do something like Twilight, but now she knew that was just wishful thinking. Trixie just hung her head and walked away from the laughing children.

"Kids can be so cruel huh?" Trixie saw Starlight come up to her.

"Cruel..but their right. What's the point of having magic if I can't even do normal magic like a filly?" Trixie admitted. "All I do is say Trixie this and Trixie that. And act big..."

"That's why you have a best friend like me." Starlight added. "I'm the worst when it comes to friendship lessons. But I know my magic lessons. So how about I teach you when this is all over? No more tricks and cheep effects."

Trixie smiled at her. "You and Fluttershy have been so nice to Trix-me…Fluttershy has given me a place to live and you never gave up on me. And all I do is complain about my hard life and say I'm better then everyone else."

"Well...you do have a bit of an ego." Starlight admitted.

"A bit? It's gotten me in more trouble then I can count." Trixie said and then stomped her a bit.

"Relax Trixie, we can work through it." Starlight pointed out.

"And you know what? I won't be so egotistical anymore." Trixie said. "From now on I'll be a better unicorn. no. I'll become...a princess like Twilight!"

"Huh?" Starlight looked confused.

Trixie had a fire in her eyes and grinned. "Twilight has beaten me in everything I've done. Magic. Tricks. Friendship, she even became an alicorn. But I won't lose. I'll become someone everyone will love!"

"Oh yeah?" Starlight smiled at this.

"I'll do it all, and first. My ego will go." Trixie said before she started to glow. "Just like in my shows. I'll make it more about the show itself and less about me."

"That's good Trixie!" Starlight said before Trixie was suddenly in her own body again.

Pinkie pie was currently in Starlight's body. She was getting tired of all the body jumping. She looked at herself in Starlight's body. It was strange. All of her bodies have been people she wasn't all that close to. She liked to think she was close to every pony. But she knew that wasn't the case.

Pinkie had seen a lot of fun things lately, but the problem is she didn't know what she had to learn to get back in her own body. She didn't think she had a problem with anyone. She wasn't that far from an elementary school and saw a bunch of children playing.

She remembered the first body she was in was Dusk's. A filly's body. She noticed the fillies all playing without a care in the world. That was how she always acted. Why worry about anything? But she realized that not worrying about everything got her in this mess.

Pinkie knew that all this was her fault. If she wasn't so carefree she would have stopped and read what was on the kettle and none of this would have happened. She felt bad now that she stopped to think about it.

Sure she was having fun in all these different bodies. But she knew the others weren't. What she thinks is fun and what they think is fun are different things. Twilight loves her books. Rarity loves her fashion. Rainbow Dash loves her speed. It all made sense now. Her child like parties were always the same. Sure she had fun but were filly parties always the answer? Of course not.

She realized that she could always have fun with her friends. But she could act her age and still have fun. She then glowed and without even noticing.

Something was blocking their bodies from going back to normal however and Trixie counted. "Let's see...oh, Starligh. Your the last one. When you get your lesson done. We all have our bodies back!"

Starlight thought about it. She could do this. She just needed to think. "Well judging from the fact I'm in your body…"

Starlight thought about Trixie for a bit and smiled. "I think I know."

"You do? That was fast." Trixie said.

"It's the thing I like about you the most. I have a hard time staying strong on my path to friendship. I always try and cut corners and think to much. YOU go with the flow of things. You don't let others bother you as much as I do. I have to do that. I'm not going to let those things get to me anymore." Starlight explained.

Trixie then noticed Starlight glow. "Boy...you really are a fast learner."

Then suddenly Pinkie. Trixie and Starlight were all back in their own bodies. Trixie smiled at this and hugged herself. "I feel like myself again!"

"Me too!" Pinkie said.

"Let's go meet up with everyone!" Trixie said before they ran off.

Meanwhile however Rarity and Celestia were the only ones that weren't in their original bodies. Rarity was looking at the fashion in the kingdom and loved it. They had beautiful clothes. One that caught her attention. It was a beautiful dress that looked like flames.

There was red and orange tailored flawlessly. The main part was red and there was clear orange veils around it. "Who made this?"

"Oh that would be me." A mare came out of the store. She was a unicorn with a blue coat and an orange mane. "Do you like it?"

"I do very much." Rarity nodded. "What material do you use?"

"Come inside princess." The mare said going back in.

Rarity followed her in and saw many beautiful designs. She was impressed with all of the designer hats and dresses. There was so much and it all looked like it was made from magic. "It's like you took real fire and made it into a dress."

"Actually that's just what I did." The mare smiled. "In Unicorn Grove we use magic for everything. So I get help from these little guys."

Rarity watched as she called in some small glowing orb like creatures. "What are those?"

"Their like Breezies for the most part, their elemental beings that boost magic of a unicorn. They are born from a special flower and love to help those who grew their homes." The mare said.

"Fluttershy told me once about those. But I thought they were a story." Rarity pointed out.

"Do you like dresses princess?" The mare asked.

"Oh very much so." Rarity said. "Can you show me how it works?"

"Well it is a trade secret. I can't just show you how it's done." The mare admitted.

"I understand." Rarity nodded. "But ether way it's beautiful work."

"Why thank you." The mare smiled happily. "We don't get many princesses here."

"Many? So you do get some?" Rarity asked.

"Princess Nova comes by to get dresses here. She loves to try on dresses and other things, she's so kind and caring." The mare said.

"It sounds like princess Nova cares deeply about every pony in Maretopia." Rarity said.

"That's because it's true. It's not just ponies. She cares for every living thing in Unicorn Grove. From Breezies to dragons she has a place in her heart for everyone." The mare said happily.

Rarity got to thinking after that. She thought about maybe opening a store in Maretopia. But she realized something. Being a princess wasn't all glamor and being fancy. Celestia lately wasn't the best princess around. All the lies and mistakes have really left a mark on her reputation.

In fact all the princesses she had met were nothing like the stories she read as a filly. Luna. Cadance. Even Twilight realized how being a princess ruined her life. Rarity had always dreamed of being a princess. But it was a lot more trouble then she hoped.

But seeing all these things that Nova did. She could see that it wasn't always fun and games but it wasn't always mistakes and problems ether. There was a balance. Actually it was like normal life. Princesses are just like her or any other pony.

Celestia's body then started to glow and Rarity knew she found out what she needed to go back to her body.

Meanwhile Celestia was sitting at a hill looking at the sky. She was deep in thought. So much has happened. Everyone she tried to help or protect now hated her. Or at least that's what she thought. And why wouldn't they?

She had lied for so long she not only started to believe them herself but she lied so much it became a habit. She lied about the other alicorns. She lied about Nightmare Moon. She lied to Sunset Shimmer. She lied to Twilight Sparkle. She even lied to herself. Who didn't she lie to?

Celestia didn't mean to lie. She didn't want to do it. But there was a reason for it. Starswirl the bearded told her to follow a certain path. And she did...without question. As she was lost in thought she heard a familiar voice from behind. "Rarity?"

Celestia turned and saw Melody Bloom. "Melody? What are you doing here?"

"I used to be a wanderer. And I heard about this place so I decided to check it out. What are you doing here?" Melody asked.

"Tell me something Melody. You knew Starswirl even before I...before Celestia did. What do you know about him?" Celestia asked.

Melody set her bag down and sat with her. "Hm...it's not like I knew him well. But he was smart and usually right about things."

"So...if he made a list for Celestia to follow...would you hold it against her for following it?" Celestia asked again.

Melody looked at her funny and then thought about it. "I suppose so."

"But if she did it to make the world a better place...is that wrong?" Celestia kept up her questions.

"Rarity. If Celestia did follow a bunch of guidelines from a crazy old man. Would you really forgive her for what she did? I knew Starswirl made those portals and all sorts of stuff. But he wasn't a ruler. Celestia following every word of her teacher to the point she ruined her life. Don't you think it's her own fault?" Melody Bloom said.

"Hmm...maybe it is all her fault." Celestia said with a sigh.

"I'm not a leader Rarity. I've always been alone. Everyone I loved was taken from me. But I know for a fact that being a leader. It's more then giving into the demands of some old man. A real princess needs to make her own decisions."

"But I had to do it!" Celestia shouted. "He was my teacher...the last time I didn't follow his advice Luna turned into Nightmare Moon and Sunset Shimmer ran away into the human world."

"You?" Melody looked at her confused.

"It's me...Celestia, my body was swapped with Rarity's…" Celestia explained.

"Wow...that sounds crazy." Melody said believing her rather fast. "But I'll admit. I've seen weirder."

"I just...before his passing Starswirl gave me a book. It was a book that told me what to do to make sure certain events happened. Like Twilight becoming my pupil. Making her into a princess. I haven't been able to fight in any of the battles because of what that book tells me." Celestia pointed out.

"Are you kidding? It's no wonder your people think so little of you now. You are taking advice from a book written by a crazy old man." Melody explained. "Your not a leader. Your just following a book's orders."

"But he was my teacher..." Celestia said.

"He was also the guy that wore a hat with bells on it, crossed the sea in a bathtub. And didn't know the first thing about friendship magic. Yes he was a great stallion. But he was also a nuts. You can't put ALL your faith into just one stallion. You have to stand on your own four legs for once." Melody said.

Celestia hung her head. She knew Melody was right. But she was scared at the same time. If she did do that. She wouldn't know what the future held for them. She never really lead anyone before. Most of her meetings with other kingdoms was her listen and then signing something.

No. Melody was right. It was that simple, she didn't take charge of her own life and look where it's gotten her. Little respect, a sister that hates her. A pupil that left their world because of her. Twilight felt like a tool and quit being a princess. Everything she worked for was crashing around her.

"Your right...I just do what I'm told...I haven't been thinking for myself since I was a child." Celestia agreed.

"Then don't you think it's time to fix that? I mean you have a lot to make up for. But you can't just ignore it." Melody said.

Celestia nodded. She stood up and smiled at her. "Thank you Melody. From this day forward. I won't let the past define me. I get it now. I don't have to be a princess to be myself. I won't be a failure anymore."

Melody noticed she was glowing and all of a suddenly Rarity's voice was normal. "Huh? Oh! I'm back!"

"Wait...what?" Melody looked at her confused.

"I'm back to myself!" Rarity said and hugged her. "This is great! Come along Melody. We have to hurry!"

Melody was then dragged along with Rarity. Shortly all the girls met up at the central park. Twilight smiled as everyone came back. "Girls! Are you all back to normal?"

"We are!" Applejack said happily.

"It took some time, but we did." Rarity said.

"It feels good to be back in my own body." Fluttershy added.

"I'm just glad this mess is finally over." Celestia said.

"Agreed." Luna nodded. "Having you all in each others bodies was confusing."

Fluttershy looked over and saw Silverwind. "Um…about what happened..."

"I think we both didn't expect that kiss...let's try and...forget that happened.." Silverwind said.

"Good idea." Fluttershy agreed in a hurry.

"So now that we're all back to normal. Can we go home?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"I think that would be best." Rarity added. "This was nice and all but we all have things to do back in Equestria."

They all agreed and were about to head out when they realized they were completely surrounded by royal guards. "You are all under arrest."

"What is the meaning of this?" Luna asked annoyed.

"There has been a….recent change on the throne." Burn out said coming up to them. "I've seen what you all can do before. And I can't let you run around freely."

The guards then all grab the girls. Twilight struggled and tried to use her magic but the guards slipped magic jamming ring on her horn. "Hey! Let us go!"

However as a guard came up to Silverwind he grabbed the guard and threw him into another guard. Celestia struggled as best she could. "Silverwind, get out of here!"

Silverwind growled. "But Princess!"

"Don't worry! I know you'll save us! Now go!" Silverwind kicked another guard as Celestia shouted.

He nodded and jumped into the air before flying off. Rainbow Dash wasn't one to be chained down ether and quickly smacked a guard away and flew off as well. Twilight and the rest were taken down and put into chains before being taken away. "Sir? What about those two?"

"Tch, they are just pegasi. What can they do? Fly? Please. Leave them. It's the princesses we really want anyway." Burn out said grinning as he watched the girls being taken away to castle.


	12. Chapter 12

"What the heck!?" Rainbow Dash kicked a cloud they were on as Silverwind was looking around making sure they weren't being followed. "I thought princess Nova was a good princess!"

"Didn't you hear that old guy? A change on the throne...I'd say princess Nova would be lucky to be alive right now." Silverwind said trying to keep his cool.

"How can you be so calm? All of my friends were taken by those jerks!" Rainbow Dash said angry.

"Keep your voice down!" Silverwind said angry as well but trying to be quiet. "How do you think I feel!? I failed the princess twice!"

Rainbow Dash took a deep breath and tried to calm down. "Your right…so what can we do?"

"Their all magic users...we have to fight magic with magic." Silverwind said.

"Hate to break it to you. But we're not unicrons." Rainbow Dash pointed out.

"Do you know any powerful unicorns?" Silverwind asked.

"Not that weren't taken just now." Rainbow Dash admitted.

"Great..." Silverwind stood up on the cloud. "Okay...we need to handle this ourselves then."

"But if they have the magic….what do we have?" Rainbow Dash said. She was worried about her friends and didn't know how to save them.

"Need I remind you Rainbow Dash, you are one of the elements of harmony. You saved the world time and time again. This time I won't fail and we're going to get to the bottom of this." Silverwind explained. "Come on."

Silverwind then moved the cloud they were on getting closer to the castle. He figured there was something dark in this place. It seemed a little too prefect.

Silverwind moved the cloud over the castle and watched the ground. The guards were all over the place and they saw Twilight and the others being taken into the castle. Celestia struggled a bit. "Where is Nova? Why would she want this!?"

The guards didn't say anything, Twilight looked around the castle and noticed Nova wasn't even there. "Wait...where is princess Nova?"

"You'll see her soon enough." A guard said before opening the wall to the dungeon.

Silverwind and Rainbow Dash saw their friends get taken down into the dungeon and Rainbow Dash felt ready to fight. "So their being held in a secret dungeon? This is just wrong."

"Hmm..." Silverwind got deep into thought. Back in his training days.

*Flashback.*

"Ahh!" Silverwind hit the ground hard. His teacher just sighed at this.

"You can't defend against a simple attack? You are nothing! You are wasting my time!" His teacher said annoyed.

"I'm not weak!" Silverwind said getting up. "I can do it!"

"I have seen you fend off earth ponies. Pegasi. Even attacks from dragons and other such monsters. But magic you are like a new born foal!" His teacher said before he stomped his hoof.

"How do you defend against something like that!?" Silverwind asked. "I mean it's something you can't see, it's faster then any living being. No one can fight against magic!"

"You fool!" His teacher smacked him to the ground again. "Have I taught you nothing!?"

Silverwind got up again. "What do you mean?"

"Watch...and learn." His teacher said and motioned some unicorns to come up. The unicorns came up and readied their magic. "Attack me with everything you have."

The unicorns then tried to grab him with their magic, but the master easily moved around the magic and kicked one unicorn. The others attacked again using beams this time. However the master moved like water and hit each of the unicorns knocking them out in one hit.

"But...how?" Silverwind watched in awe.

"It is simple. Most believe magic is unstoppable. But magic can be felt. Can be touched. If you can feel it. You can avoid it." His teacher said.

Silverwind nodded. "Yes sir."

"Now we try again." His teacher said.

 ***End** *

"Silver?" Rainbow Dash tapped his shoulder.

"Huh? Oh sorry. I was just remembering something my old teacher taught me." Silverwind said.

"Can it help save my friends?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Yes. But there are a lot of of guards. I'll need you to lure some guards away." Silverwind pointed out. "Don't worry. I have your back."

"Okay. I can do that." Rainbow Dash said.

Rainbow Dash flew down out into the open. "Hey chumps!"

The guards looked over at Rainbow Dash and quickly went after her. Rainbow Dash dashed around the corner of the castle and as soon as they turned the corner after her Silverwind was right behind them and hit each of the guards out cold.

"Wow Silver. You have some moves." Rainbow Dash smiled at him. "For a guy anyway."

Silverwind didn't really know if that was a complement or not. It mainly got him worried. How useless were Celestia's guards normally? He just shook it off and smiled back. "Let's go save the princesses and the others."

Rainbow Dash nodded and they went into the castle. Luckily Burn out had the guards in the castle's meeting room. Probably to talk about the new laws or something. Rainbow Dash however still believed Nova had something to do with all this.

"Let's see." Silverwind felt around the wall to find the secret doorway. "Hmm..."

In the dungeon just beyond the wall There was three guards there making sure they couldn't do anything. Twilight noticed that Nova was in a cell and looked like she had been crying for awhile. Her cheeks red from the tears.

"Nova? What happened?" Twilight asked trying to get her to talk.

"What does it look like?" Nova said still choking on her tears. "The ones closest to me...betrayed me...you were right about me Celestia...you always were.."

Celestia's ears flopped down from her words. Twilight looked at her cellmate with concern. "Celestia?"

"It was a long time ago." Celestia admitted. "When I was selected to go to the new kingdom of Equestria. She told me she would be a better princess and gain the love of the everyone in the kingdom she made."

A guard who was listening just laughed at this. "Such a childish dream. The real world doesn't work like that."

Another guard nodded. "That old guy Burn out had the right idea. Use a gullible princess that trusts why to much and then use her to get the greatest kingdom in the world."

"What does he mean by that?" Shining Star asked.

"I got the deed….to Equestria..." Nova admitted.

"What!?" The girls all gasped in shock.

"It's not surprising really." Luna pointed out. She was the only one not shocked. After all. The counsel of princesses didn't like any kind of failure. Celestia was sort of full of them. "After all the mistakes that Celestia tried to sweep under the rug, can you blame them for wanting to make a change to the throne?"

"It doesn't matter now...Burn out won...our kingdoms are his now…." Nova said in a flat tone.

"Are you really just going to give up?" Twilight asked.

"Okay, that's enough talking from you mares." The last guard said hitting the bars with a spear.

Silverwind finally opened the door and Rainbow Dash dashed right in. "Hey you jerks!"

"Rainbow!" Silverwind called out as she kicked a guard in the face.

"Whoa! It's that rainbow chick!" One of the guards said trying to stop her but Silverwind suddenly came up and knocked the other two guards out by slamming their heads together.

"You seem like you can handle yourself after all." Silverwind smiled and got the keys off the guard.

"Rainbow Dash! Silverwind! You came for us." Twilight said happily.

"I could never abandon my princesses." Silverwind said as he unlocked all the cells.

"Now we can deal with that Burn out guy." Rainbow Dash said.

"What can you do, friendship beam him?" Nova said getting out of her cell sounding almost bitter.

"We….can't actually." Twilight said. "And will never be able to."

"What do you mean?" Silverwind asked. "Isn't that your go to finisher?"

"Well we used the elements of harmony for that. We lost the elements awhile back, but gained something much better." Twilight said before smiling at Shining and Dusk.

Silverwind didn't really understand but it was fine. "If you can't fight. I suggest you leave the castle."

"Don't worry. I will keep everyone safe." Rainbow Dash said. "Twilight. You and the princesses need to take out that Burn out creep."

"Okay. Then let's go." Twilight said before the princesses and Silverwind ran off. The rest went with Rainbow Dash away from the castle. Nova didn't know what to do. But she knew she had to stop Burn out. She quickly followed after the princesses.

"We still don't have our magic back. Can we do this?" Luna asked trying to get the ring off her horn.

"Their locked on our horns tightly. We will have to take them off later. Right now we need to do all we can to stop Burn out." Celestia said.

Silverwind went on ahead to make sure it was safe. In the meeting room the guards were all listening to Burn out talk about how he would change the world into his image and other villain lines. They didn't really care as long as they got all the bits they were promised.

Silverwind didn't waste anytime busting the door down. Burn out saw him and the princesses. "What is this!?"

"Burn out. It's time you give up!" Twilight said annoyed. "Before this goes any further!"

"You must be kidding. I didn't get this far to let you alicorns stop me." Burn out said. "Guards. Take care of them!"

The guards then tried to use their magic on the princesses but Silverwind quickly knocked one of them down. Burn out backed up from this. "How dare you!"

"Shut it old man!" Silverwind then punched Burn out with his front hoof.

"Silverwind, don't hurt them!" Twilight tried to talk him down.

Luna however stopped her. "Let him."

"But Luna, it's wrong to do things by force." Twilight said.

"It's the only thing these thugs understand. Silverwind is a royal guard. He is doing his job." Luna pointed out.

Silverwind noticed a guard about to attack him so he quickly kicked another guard into the guard and hit them into the wall. He then grabbed the captain by his neck. "Release their magic or else!"

"Never!" The captain said.

"Do it!" Silverwind said tightening his grip.

"Tch..." The captain used his magic and the rings fell off of them giving them use of their magic again. "Now let me go."

Silverwind let him go. "Sure."

He then knocked him out and all the princesses cornered Burn out. Celestia glared at him. "Give me the deed...NOW."

"H-here!" Burn out gave her the deed but then smiled. "You might have beaten me. But when I get out of jail. I'll make sure you pay."

"We're giving you a chance to come peacefully." Twilight said. "Use it."

"That is the problem with you alicorns. I'll just come back. Every time you throw me in jail I'll come back to do something far worse then the last! Haha. You alicorns are weak!" Burn out said laughing a bit before something grabbed him around the neck and he was lifted into the air. "Gah!"

The girls all turned to see Nova and her horn glowing. "You….I trusted you. I believed everything you told me. I was nothing but a tool to you!"

"Nova stop, we won!" Twilight getting in front of her. "The danger is over!"

"Over!? Didn't you hear him? He will just keep coming back if we let him. I won't be played a fool any longer!" Nova said keeping him in the air by his neck.

"Let me go!" Burn out begged.

"Nova. I understand your angry. But this isn't the way." Celestia pointed out.

"Please listen Nova. This-" Luna tried to speak but they all heard a sickening snap behind them and Silverwind looked away. Twilight looked back and saw Burn out with a broken neck still in the air. Nova then tossed the body on the floor.

"Nova….how could you..." Celestia looked at her shocked.

"I won't be used again." Nova said coldly as she went over to the body and took the deed from him. "Just take your deed and go. The repairs to your kingdom should be done when you get back."

"Nova..." Luna didn't really know what to say.

"Get out! I want everyone out of my castle NOW!" Nova shouted not looking at them.

They all quickly left the room and out of the castle. Twilight was the most affected by this. Twilight knew what it was like to be a tool. To be betrayed by someone close to you. Nova was in the same boat. But she didn't have anyone to fall back on. Twilight had her friends and family. But Nova...she was alone.

They came out and saw everyone else waiting for them. Rainbow Dash waved them over. "Hey!"

Twilight came over to them looking sad. "Hey girls..."

"Did you stop that guy?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Well...Nova did...she….killed Burn out." Twilight said. "Her face….she's closed off her heart..."

"That's not good." Rarity said. "Can we do anything?"

"Not for awhile I'm afraid." Celestia said. "This has done more damage to her then anyone. We can only give her time to heal this sort of wound."

"As if you know how to heal betray sister." Luna said. "Come. We're all going into town for awhile. We have a few more weeks before everything is fixed."

Nobody knew what to say or do at this point. All they could do was wait until it was okay to go back to Equestria. Nova had locked herself in her castle bedroom and refused anyone. The word got out of what had happened and the people of Maretopia tried their best to talk to their princess. But she wouldn't have it.

About a little over a month had passed. Rarity and the others had gone to their homes, they couldn't stay of course. Celestia on the other hoof did. Silverwind and Luna stayed with her to make sure she would be okay. Twilight also stayed wanting to make sure Nova was alright.

"I sure hope the others are doing okay...this whole mess has gotten to everyone." Twilight said before drinking some tea.

"It's funny isn't is?" Silverwind pointed out. "All these problems from mainly alicorn issues."

"Well your not wrong Silver." Twilight nodded. "It seems like everything we do has another mess in the middle of it."

"I feel bad for princess Nova. She was so kind and caring. She did so much for everyone. And that Burn out guy took advantage of her." Silverwind continued.

"We also found out that Burn out had been stealing the kingdom's money and made Nova feel like it was her charity that caused the lack of funds. He was a monster." Twilight said.

"No offense...but killing him was the right thing to do." Silverwind explained. "He was evil."

"There are many evils Silverwind. We can't kill them all. Look at Discord, he changed." Twilight countered.

"But he still tries to mess with your friendships and even your family. I wasn't there for a lot of the evils you faced. But I know that there are some monsters in this world that can't be saved." Silverwind said.

"I wish I could say you were wrong..." Twilight said.

"Princess!?" Twilight and Silverwind heard a mare say. They turned to the voice and saw Nova. She was at the bakery looking at the goods.

"It's been awhile since you came down...are you alright?" Simmer Glaze asked. "After everything that happened..."

Nova didn't say anything. She gave her some bits and took a muffin and walked out of the store. A crowd was watching her not sure of what to do or say. Some were even afraid of her now. Nova slowly walked towards the castle and Celestia came up to her. "Nova!"

Nova ignored her and kept walking but then Celestia blocked her path. "Enough of this."

"Move..." Nova said coldly.

"Nova look at yourself!" Celestia put a mirror in front of her. Nova saw that her mane and tail were a mess. Her fur coat was dirty. Her eyes were bloodshot and her face was a mess from all the crying. "Is this how you want your people to see you? If you keep this up. You'll become a tyrant like Burn out."

"Why do you care?" Nova asked. "I was the only one that could hold a candle to your kingdom...but now we're broke. Broken…you won, I don't want to be a princess anymore."

"So that's it then? You became a princess just to be my rival at something? So then you never cared about anyone but yourself? If you were that selfish do you really think we would still be here?" Celestia pointed out. "I made mistakes in the past. And I have to live with them everyday. But I'm trying to fix them now. Don't be like me and wait for someone else to fix them…your better then me."

"Celestia…" Nova looked at her shocked. She teared up and then hugged Celestia crying loudly.

Glaze smiled at this. She was glad her princess was finally opening up again. Twilight smiled as well. "Celestia. She's really looking like the princess I grew up believing in."

Celestia hugged her back and wiped away her tears. "It's okay to cry, but you need to get back on your feet. Learn from your mistakes and fix what you can."

Nova nodded. "Thank you...I'm sorry I always tried to start fights with you...I'm sorry I tried to hurt you...the truth is...I was jealous. You have so many people who believe in you and love you...even after all the mistakes."

"Nova. I realize being betrayed like that hurts. But look." Celestia pointed out all the ponies around looking at them concerned. "What you did for all these ponies wasn't a mistake. They all look up to you."

Nova let out a sigh. She realized it was true. But wounds like these didn't just close up and forgotten about. "I understand. Maybe someday things will be back to normal. But for right now I need to work on everything Burn out did behind my back. But just so you know, I don't regret what I did to him."

"Oh that reminds me. Twilight? I need to give you something." Nova said before she walked.

Twilight looked at her and then get up and followed her. She didn't know what Nova wanted to give her but she wanted to help Nova feel better. "Hey Nova?"

"Yes?" Nova asked not even looking at her.

"Are you going to be okay?" Twilight asked. "Like Burn out, Celestia betrayed me. It hurts, but I think it all works out."

"True. Once you take them out of the picture anyway." Nova agreed.

"I know Burn out was a monster….I wouldn't have...killed him. But unlike him Celestia can change." Twilight said.

"That's what people love about you Twilight. From what I hear about you, it's your kind heart and your willingness to save even those who don't deserve it." Nova said.

"Well I believe everyone deserves a second chance. Even if they did something horrible." Twilight said. "After all. Nobody is pure evil."

"You live in some dream world Twilight." Nova pointed out. "The world isn't as colorful as you like to believe."

"What do you mean?" Twilight looked at her confused.

"It's like Burn out said. If I just put him in jail or banished him. He would just continue to hurt others. Coming back to do more damage and cause suffering." Nova continued. "I found his notes and documents. Did you know he had not only been stealing from me but he was blackmailing innocent ponies, he didn't care who he would hurt. If he wanted something he would take it in secret. He even sexually assaulted mares. He was scum, and scum need to be put down."

"Wow...I agree that he needed to be stopped...but killing...it's just wrong." Twilight admitted.

"What about Sombra?" Nova suddenly brought up.

"Sombra?" Twilight asked.

"He murdered. Enslaved. Most likely raped all sorts of ponies. All for what?" Nova brought up. I once had a visitor named Hope that told me all about Sombra. The good points and the bad. He was a monster for no real reason. Yet Hope believed he could be saved and betrayed everyone she knew and cared about. Friends, family. All she cared about was Sombra, she believed what you do. She's in fact a like you."

Twilight remembered Hope and sighed. Somehow that was always brought up in these kinds of talks. "Yeah...I know that I'm too nice...I trust people to much. But now Sombra isn't that bad. He changed...last second sure...but still."

"And what about those who were hurt by him?" Nova exclaimed.

"What?" Twilight stopped in her tracks. "Those hurt by him?"

"Those ponies he enslaved. Tortured, killed. Those mares who were raped. What about them? One thousand years is nothing to just ignore. Those victims will never recover. Never see justice. Some might even have become mothers. Forced to look at their child in fear that he might return." Nova explained.

Twilight didn't know what to think, she couldn't argue Nova's points. They all made sense. Sure she helped Hope with Sombra. But everyone he hurt. Killed or worse had to just live with what Twilight decided. She never even thought about those he hurt. How they felt about Sombra running around free. It would be like a nightmare you couldn't wake up from.

"Am I wrong?" Nova asked.

"No...you are absolutely right. I thought I was helping people, but all I did was make people fear for their lives on a daily basis." Twilight admitted. "I guess I'm not really a good princess huh?"

"Decisions like that are always hard Twilight. Is it as easy as right and wrong? Of course not. But you tend to pick the side of the few. As I picked the side of the many with killing Burn out." Nova explained.

"Is being a princess ever easy?" Twilight asked.

"From what I've learned...no." Nova said as they finally got to a large building. "Here we are."

"What's this place?" Twilight looked around.

"This is where we raise young dragons." Nova and Twilight went inside and Twilight noticed they were in a lobby. Nova went over to a stallion behind the counter. "The love egg please."

"Love egg?" Twilight asked as the stallion went into the back.

"It's my gift to you for helping me. I was betrayed and hurt. But I never forget a debt owed. I'm giving everyone of your friends something." Nova said as the stallion came back with a pink dragon egg and gave it to her. "Ah here we go."

"What's with the egg?" Twilight kept up her questions.

"This is a love dragon egg. It's mother left it about a year or so ago. I want you to have it." Nova said giving her the egg. "It's my way of saying thank you for what you have done."

"Wow...are you sure?" Twilight looked at the egg. It felt warm in her hoof, she could even feel something moving slightly inside. "I mean I already have a dragon friend."

"The princess of friendship has to many friends?" Nova smiled at this.

Twilight giggled from that. "Okay you have me there. Thank you Nova, I'll raise him well."

"I know you have a few kids already, but trust me. A love dragon is very special." Nova said. "Well I'm going to go back to the castle, tell Celestia the city is done and everyone can go home."

"Thank you princess Nova. You've been a great help." Twilight said before leaving.

Nova smiled as she left. She knew Twilight had a big heart. But would that save anyone in the future? She hoped so. She didn't want to see Twilight go down a dark path.

Twilight went to the castle and saw the other princesses waiting for her. Celestia had gotten the news and everyone was going home finally. Luna waved her over and saw she was holding a dragon egg. "I see Nova has given you a gift."

"She called it a love dragon egg. So is everyone finally able to go home?" Twilight said looking at all the people.

"Yes. Everything looks just like before the attack from Serenity and Paradise." Celestia answered. "This little adventure is finally over. It's been trying huh?"

"I'll say. I'm stressed out enough as it is." Twilight said.

"I can tell." Luna pointed out. "That white in your mane says it all."

"What white in my mane?" Twilight asked confused.

Luna used her magic to bring up a mirror and Twilight had a white streak in her mane now. "It's not a bad look, it adds character."

"Oh no! My mane..." Twilight touched her mane. "I have to relax more, this is awful."

"Don't worry. A little magic mane care and it'll be back to normal in no time." Luna pointed out. "Now how about we go home?"

"That sounds like a plan." Twilight said as they all headed through the portal to Equestria.


	13. Chapter 13

Several weeks had passed after everything with Unicorn Grove happened. Twilight was so busy she didn't even think about the white in her mane. The good news was there was finally time for a break. All those crazy problems finally over with.

Twilight had on her reading glasses and was looking through some new laws, as a princess she had to make sure everything was working right and she insisted on looking over anything Celestia or Luna wanted to pass or something.

Nova had been true to her word and Canterlot was fixed. It was better then ever actually. A lot of the broken parts around the city was fixed and renewed, everyone was happy with it. She was deep in thought when all of a sudden there was a knock on the door. "Huh? Oh come in."

Spike walked in and smiled at her bringing in a plate of cookies. "Hey Twilight. I made some cookies."

"Thank you Spike, that's really nice of you." Twilight took a cookie and took a bite. Spike wasn't a great cook for most things but he knew how to make a good cookie. "It's delicious."

"Yeah that's great." Spike said. Twilight noticed he was eying the love dragon egg near Twilight's bed.

"Spike?" Twilight looked at him funny. "You okay?"

"I still don't like this egg being here." Spike admitted.

"Why? Do you think he will replace you?" Twilight put bluntly. "Please Spike, we've been over this. You will never be replaced."

"Right, you say that." Spike said.

Twilight rolled her eyes and heard her children Shining Star and Dusk Sparkle walk up to the door and knock before coming in. "We're home!"

"Oh girls. How was school in the human world?" Twilight asked.

"It was fun, we're going back soon because Sunset wants to show us around the city." Dusk said happily. "We won't be staying long."

"Wait girls. Can I come with you?" Twilight put down her work. "I could use a break."

"Sure mom, let's all go!" Shining Star said excited.

"Come on Spike. Let's go visit the human world." Twilight said joining her children.

"Okay, pull my arm why don't you." Spike said with a laugh and they all headed to the portal.

Right before they could go through the portal however there was a knock on the front door. Twilight stopped and quickly answered it. "Hello?"

On the other side was none other then Twilight's mother, Twilight Velvet, and her father Night Light. "Mom? Dad? What are you two doing here?"

"Hey sweetie!" Velvet said as she hugged her. "It's been awhile."

"It has been awhile, so what brings you both here?" Twilight asked.

"To see our grand kids of course." Velvet said happily. "We haven't been able to see them because of all that happened."

"Oh that's right, you two haven't really seen them. Come on in." Twilight said letting her parents in.

"Mom are we going?" Dusk asked coming out with Shining Star.

"True. Hey how about you two come with us?" Twilight turned to her family. "We were going out right when you showed up."

"Why that would be lovely." Velvet said. "So where are we going?"

"It's the human world." Twilight said as she brought them to the portal. "It will take some getting used to but this is where Shining Star and Dusk Sparkle go to school."

"Really?" Night Light looked at the glowing portal. "Going to another world just for school?"

"It does seem a little weird." Velvet nodded.

"Come on, you'll see it's a great place." Twilight said going through the portal.

Shining Star and Dusk Sparkle quickly followed her followed by Spike. Night Light and Velvet then stepped through the portal after them. Twilight's parents then saw the human world and noticed Twilight, Shining Star and Dusk Sparkle were humans. They looked at each other and started to freak out.

"Mom, dad. It's okay. I know it's weird at first." Twilight said going over to them and helping them both up. "Here we are humans."

"Humans?" Night light looked at himself. He was wearing a suit for some reason. "Where did I get clothes?"

Velvet looked at herself and saw she was wearing a summer dress. "We didn't have anything on before."

"I know right? I still don't know why we get clothes when we go here." Twilight said.

"And what are these?" Night Light asked looking at his fingers.

"I'm told their called fingers." Twilight explained. "Now we have to go. A friend is waiting for us."

"Hmm." Velvet tried to walk and struggled a bit. "Oh my, walking on two legs is so strange."

"Whoa!" Night light fell on his butt from trying to walk. "It's also hard."

Shining Star went over to Night Light and helped him up. "It's okay mister. We've been going here for awhile now. It's pretty fun once you get the hang of it."

"Mister?" Night Light looked at her. It wasn't hard to guess she didn't know they were Twilight's parents.

"Hey!" They all heard Sunset Shimmer call out, she came from inside the school with her bag and a smile. "Star, Dusk...Twilight? And others?"

"Hey Sunset. It's been awhile." Twilight said happily.

"True, but we've been getting along great with the other Twilight." Sunset said.

"Is me-I mean she doing okay?" Twilight asked.

"Well she has problems from time to time with magic but she's doing fine." Sunset said. "So I'm guessing you came here with your children for something."

"I needed a break." Twilight admitted. "A lot has happened in Equestria."

"You'll have to tell me all about it. Our first stop is sugarcube corner. I need something to drink." Sunset said before the got to walking.

It wasn't long before they went to the little shop and got a table. "So care to tell me who your friends here?"

"Oh right, sorry. This is my mom and dad Twilight Velvet and Night Light." Twilight introduced her them. "Mom? Dad? This is my good friend Sunset Shimmer."

"Well it's a pleasure to meet you Ms. Shimmer." Velvet said with a smile.

"I'm glad Twilight is making friends. When she was little she refused to have any friends." Night Light said.

"Wow Twilight, your parents are really young. They look like they should be in high school." Sunset pointed out.

"Huh?" Twilight looked at them and noticed for a fact she was right. Somehow they looked like teenagers. "How is that possible?"

Velvet blushed. "Oh Sunset, your a charmer."

"First clothes now youth? This place must have some powerful magic." Night Light said.

"Actually this world has no magic. At least until I brought some here." Sunset admitted.

Shining Star and Dusk were kicking their legs pretty bored. That was when Mrs. Cake came over. "Hello Sunset, what would you and your friends like?"

Sunset quickly looked at the menu. "I'll have some tea."

"I'll have a muffin and a soda." Twilight said.

"Oh so many things here." Velvet looked at the menu. "Okay I will have a strawberry parfait and my husband will have a slice of cheesecake."

"You know me so well honey." Night Light said.

"Huh? Are you two dating?" Mrs. Cake asked as she wrote down the orders.

"Oh no, we're married." Velvet pointed out.

"Married? But you two are so young." Mrs. Cake said looking shocked.

"It's complicated." Twilight said.

"Oh and one more thing." Velvet said noticing the twins were bored. "Two chocolate parfaits for the little ones and something to color with while we wait."

"Of course." Mrs. Cake said getting some coloring pads. "I'll get them ready in a minute."

She left and Dusk got to coloring. She had a big smile and Sunset looked at Velvet. "Wow, you got them to stop kicking their legs. You are a good mother."

"Mom?" Shining Star asked. "Who are they?"

"I told you, their my parents." Twilight said.

"But, how come you have two parents and we only have one? Can they be our parents as well?" Shining Star asked.

"Well uh..." Twilight didn't really know what to say here.

"I can answer that." Velvet stepped in. "We can't be your parents. Because we are your grandparents."

"What are grandparents?" Dusk asked.

"The parents of parents." Night Light said. "We act like another pair of parents for you."

"A pair?" Shining Star thought about it. "So…why don't we have two parents?"

"Well...I would have to get married for that. And I just haven't found anyone." Twilight admitted.

"What about Flash?" Sunset poked fun at her.

"I like Flash...a lot of course, but we're just two different. I mean I'm a magical pony princess and he is...just human. I just can't see us together, and I don't want to do the same thing Celestia did." Twilight said with a little blush.

"I think it's called Beast something here." Sunset said. "You know. Where humans do the deed with animals, magical or otherwise."

"What's the deed?" Dusk asked.

"Oh uh...when your older you'll find out." Twilight said quickly.

"So is it okay if we find you a special somepony?" Shining Star asked. "I would really like to have two parents."

"What about Celestia or Chrysalis?" Dusk pointed out to her sister.

"Well Celestia is like a parent that doesn't visit or do anything with you. And Chrysalis is a monster that tried to kill us. I don't want a parent like that ether." Shining Star explained.

"Listen girls." Velvet spoke up. "Twilight will find someone, it will just take some time. You shouldn't rush her."

"Oh sorry." Shining Star stopped. She didn't mean to push anything on Twilight. She just got excited.

"It's okay Star. I understand." Twilight said.

Mrs. Cake came back with their orders and set them on the table. "Enjoy everyone."

"Thanks Mrs. Cake." Sunset said taking her drink and sipping it.

"Wow, your just like our Mrs. Cake." Shining Star said.

"Huh?" Mrs. Cake looked at her confused.

"Nothing, don't worry about it." Twilight said.

Mrs. Cake nodded and walked away. Sunset sighed and smiled at the children. "Listen girls. You can't just tell people you are from another world. Nobody would understand."

Shining Star and Dusk Sparkle nodded and ate their treats. After everyone finished Sunset paid and they went back to their trip. Shining Star however had more questions. "Hey grandmom? Why is your name Twilight as well?"

"Well actually it's a tradition in the family to have the name Twilight. I am Twilight. But I'm Twilight Velvet. And she's Twilight Sparkle." Velvet said.

"Really? We're not named Twilight though." Shining Star said.

"Oh?" Velvet looked at Twilight confused.

"Uh..." Twilight didn't know what to say. Velvet then stopped Twilight. "You guys go on ahead. I think mom wants to talk."

"Oh boy...this won't be pretty." Night Light said.

"Well don't be to long." Sunset said as they walked along.

"Should I stay?" Spike asked.

"No. it'll be okay." Night Light said.

As soon as they left Velvet glared at her. "How could you Twilight?"

"I wasn't thinking about it. And besides, they don't need to carry our name, they weren't born from me." Twilight explained.

"That's no excuse Twilight. You could have named her Twilight Star or something." Velvet said.

"But mom, does it really matter? Their family. Just like Spike." Twilight said.

"But Twilight. I have the name, you have the name. Your grandmother had the name and so on. Having at least one daughter with Twilight in her name is tradition." Velvet explained. "And Spike is a pet."

"I can't just rename them mom." Twilight pointed out.

"I know...alright. The next baby you have has to carry our name okay?" Velvet said before letting out a sigh.

"My next child!?" Twilight jumped from this. "I don't have even have a boyfriend. Come on mom."

"I can't believe this. My daughter has two kids and is single. If I didn't know better I'd say you were sleeping around." Velvet said upset.

"I haven't even had sex mom!" Twilight said embarrassed. "I'm a virgin!"

"A virgin with children? That's not even heard of in Equestria." Velvet said. "But I want you to promise me you will at least name your next child Twilight okay?"

"I...okay mom, but I don't know when that will be." Twilight said.

"All I care about is your happiness Twilight. I just have a thing for tradition. I guess that's why I'm old huh?" Velvet said.

"Mom? You've been young for a long time." Twilight said.

They started to walk to catch up with the others. Twilight continued. "That reminds me, how old are you now?"

"Well that isn't something I like to talk about, but I'm older then I look." Velvet said.

"What does that mean?" Twilight asked.

"I've been around a long time Twilight." Velvet said as they caught up with the others.

Sunset was explaining to the twins where to go in cause they got lost. "And that's how you use to bus. I don't think you'll need to given your home is right at school, but you can never be to careful."

"Oh that's cool." Shining Star was looking over the large bus. "So what sort of magic does it run off of?"

"It doesn't run on magic. It's technology." Sunset pointed out. "It would take some time to explain what that is."

"I want to study it." Dusk said with a smile.

"I remember buses. Right dear?" Night Light asked his wife when he saw them come up.

"Shh!" Velvet said shutting him up. "N-no dear. What's a bus?"

Sunset noticed this but Twilight didn't, Twilight then explained what she knew. "It's a vehicle that's big enough to get several kids from point A to point B. it's like the trains in a sense."

"And we get to rid them!" Shining Star said happily.

"My, Twilight you have seen so much. How many times have you been here?" Velvet asked.

"Me? About twice or so." Twilight said. "It's a beautiful world. But I love our world more."

"Well thanks for the tour Sunset, this is a lot of fun." Dusk said.

"It's no problem. I am happy to help." Sunset smiled at her. "But-"

Before Sunset could finish they heard a voice call out. "Sunset!"

They all turned to see the human Twilight run up to them. "Sunset, something weird is going on with-mom? Dad? What are you two doing here?"

"Huh? Two Twilight's?" Velvet looked at Twilight and the other one. "What is going on?"

"Oh I can explain that." Sunset brought up. "You see, this Twilight is the Twilight of this world. Your Twilight is the Twilight of your world."

"Hi mommy!" Shining Star went over to human Twilight and hugged her leg.

"Oh hey there Star." Twilight pet her head and looked at Twilight. "Oh it's you again."

"Uh...yes, it's me." Twilight said.

Velvet looked over human Twilight and smiled. "Looks like you eat well, it's a pleasure to meet you Twilight."

"So you two are the other Twilight's parents? You guys look just like my parents." The human Twilight said.

"Maybe we should go?" Twilight pointed out. She knew her other self didn't like her. She understood of course, but it still was awkward that her other self didn't like her.

"That would be best." The human Twilight said.

"Is something wrong?" Star asked.

"The human Twilight doesn't really like the other Twilight." Sunset said.

"So Twilight doesn't like herself?" Star asked.

"Basically Twilight made a name for herself before Twilight came here and everyone mistakes her for her." Sunset said trying to not sound confusing.

They all looked at Sunset shocked at first. Mainly because she was the only one honest about what was going on here. "What? It's true."

"Oh I get it." Star said and turned to the human Twilight again. "Will you be okay?"

"Once she leaves I will be." Twilight said.

"Now now Twilight. That isn't any way to talk about yourself." Velvet said. "Come with me."

Velvet took the human Twilight around the corner to talk to her. Twilight just sighed. "What do you want?"

"Look. I know your upset at her. She made a lot of mistakes. But haven't you as well?" Velvet said.

"Well..." Twilight thought about it and nodded. "I have..."

"You and her are the same and yet different. In a way, she's like a sister to you. Why not try and get along with her?" Velvet said.

"But everyone loves her. Nobody even knows who I am. Not me me." Twilight explained.

"Then you need to work on changing that, if I know my baby girl then I know you can change that." Velvet said.

"How? She saved the world twice here and I tried to destroy it." Twilight said.

"I know you can do it." Velvet said.

"Wow...you are just like my mother, I can try. Thanks." Twilight said before they rejoined the others.

"So how is Glitter Heart doing?" Twilight asked Sunset.

"She likes to be alone but she's doing okay." Sunset said.

Twilight went over to Twilight and looked right into her eyes. "You might have made it hard for me here. But I won't lose."

"Uh..okay?" Twilight smiled trying to understand what she meant. "So...are we cool?"

Twilight smiled at her and nodded. "Yeah, I can't hate you for just being in this world."

After a bit they finally left and everyone went back to the portal, they couldn't stay long after all due to Twilight having more work to do. "Well Sunset it was a lot of fun today. Maybe we will see each other again huh?"

"Of course Twilight. Don't be a stranger, see you around okay?" Sunset waved as the family walked through the portal and Velvet and Night Light were happy to be ponies again.

"Being human was fun. But you can't beat being a pony." Night Light said.

"I agree." Velvet nodded.

"Well I have to get back to work. Make yourselves at home." Twilight said going back to work. "Come on Spike."

Spike nodded and walked with her. Velvet just had to know something so she asked the twins. "So...why are you going to school in another world?"

"Because we….we feel like we belong there." Dusk said. "We are alicorns in this world. And the only ones of our age. Everyone treats us like royalty and we just want to fit in."

"Is that all?" Velvet asked. "That's a bit silly don't you think?"

"It is?" Star asked.

"You two are the only alicorns I know that are going to school." Night Light pointed out. "You girls don't need to go to school."

"Why?" Dusk asked.

"For one, Twilight could teach you, and for another that whole not fitting in is silly. You girls fit in just fine." Velvet said.

"We do?" Star looked at her confused.

"I know for a fact all little mares feel like they don't fit in some way or another. Sure you two are different from everyone else. But that makes you special, and being special is a good thing. Twilight is special. Her friends are special. Everyone is special in their own way, that's how the world works." Velvet explained. "if you try and hide from your birthright or what makes you special you will just hurt yourself in the end. Honestly I see no real problem with you going to a human school, but don't forgot that you are not just some fillies in a crowd. You two have fates we can't even begin to imagine."

"Your grandmother is right, it would be selfish to hide your talents in another world all the time after so many believe in you in this world." Night Light said.

The twins looked at each other. They didn't think of it like that, their grandparents were right. It was selfish of them to try and hide in another world. Sure it was safe but so many ponies believed in them, they had friends and family here. And all they thought about was keeping away from the changelings and trying to fit in.

"I feel bad sis." Dusk said. "Rarity took us in when we needed a place. Mom worked so hard to keep us alive...and we..."

"I feel awful too..." Star admitted. Star then smacked her own cheeks. "Dusk? We can't run from this anymore, so many have tried to help us and we do nothing. We have to stop acting like babies and act our age."

"But we are babies, we haven't even existed for a year." Dusk pointed out.

"I meant the ages we look like." Star added. "We can be alicorns and be kids, but we don't need to act like we need our mother's milk all the time."

"Your right sis. Let's prove it to them." Dusk said.

"Yeah!" Star jumped up happily.

"Mom will be so proud." Dusk said just as excited as her sister. Without thinking Dusk kissed her sister on the lips and they ran off.

"Did they…" Night Light looked at his wife.

"Kiss? Yes they did." Velvet said strangely not shocked. "That's probably from my side of the family."

"What do you mean?" Night Light asked.

"It's a strange thing that happens to the Sparkle family, each of the mares have...an attraction to each other. We don't act on it because we know better, but Dusk and Star have the Twilight gene and don't know taboo." Velvet explained.

"Man, I wish I could have seen you and your sister experiment like that." Night Light said.

Velvet blushed and pushed him playfully. "Oh you stallions are all alike."

As Star and Dusk walked they suddenly heard a voice calling their names like Star once did. "Sis? What's that voice?"

"You know? I think it's from the Chrystal empire." Star said. "We need to go there and find out what that is."


	14. Chapter 14

Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy were flying along when they saw Misty Gale in front of a building. "Hey girls!"

Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy stopped and went over to her. "Misty Gale?"

"You girls came just in time, I finished setting up my new place." Misty Gale said.

"Can we see?" Fluttershy asked.

"Come right in." Misty Gale said opening the door.

They walked in and saw that the home was set up lovingly, it was strange how everything seemed like set up so quickly. Rainbow Dash smiled at this. "How did you set up so fast?"

"Well you girls were gone for awhile and I used magic." Misty Gale pointed out.

"Magic?" Fluttershy asked.

"You have unicorn friends?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"No, not really." Misty Gale said and pulled out her amulet. "See this?"

"Wow, is that the alicorn amulet?" Fluttershy looked at it closely.

"Well it's close, you see I got this a long time ago. It's a magical amulet that gives magic to those who can't use magic." Misty Gale said. "It helps me with everything I do, except with flying."

"Why do you need it?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Because magic is cool." Misty said plainly. "Also I use it to...um...well..."

Fluttershy looked around and saw some videos. She looked at them and took one out. It was labeled Midnight Heart's pool party. "What is this?"

"Oh!" Misty Gale takes the video and blushes. "This is...uh..."

"You collect those kind of videos?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Actually...I'm the star." Misty Gale said.

"You….you are an adult star?" Fluttershy asked a bit shocked.

"You don't look like Midnight Heart though." Rainbow Dash pointed out.

"Here." Misty Gale focused and then the amulet glowed and she changed into a unicorn before their eyes. "See? With this amulet I can use alicorn magic and as long as I don't go crazy with it I won't be corrupt from it."

"Your fur, mane and wings changed and even got a horn. You really are that adult star." Rainbow Dash said looking at her. "That's cool!"

Misty Gale changed back and nodded. "I use it to live another life outside the wonderbolts."

"Really? That's neat, but why do you need do that?" Fluttershy asked.

"Because just waiting around to fly here and there gets boring and can't pay all my bills." Misty Gale pointed out.

"That's harsh. But you have a point." Rainbow Dash nodded. "Both you and Fluttershy have back up jobs and plans. I finally got my dream job but I don't have anything to back up on."

"Don't say that Rainbow. You have your cloud busting thing." Fluttershy added.

"Yeah I guess." Rainbow Dash nodded.

"Come on girls." Misty Gale smiled and went to the kitchen. "Who wants some ice cream?"

"I do!" Fluttershy followed after her.

"I got some awesome Rainbow ice cream made from real rainbows!" Misty Gale said getting out a thing of ice cream. "It's a bit sour though."

"I can handle that." Fluttershy said as Misty Gale served them both some cones. "Thank you."

Rainbow Dash took her cone and Misty made herself a cone and put everything away. "So girls, I heard about what happened in Unicorn Grove. That must have been weird."

"It was strange. Being inside another body." Fluttershy said.

"I never want to do that again." Rainbow Dash admitted.

"So any more crazy adventures planned out?" Misty asked.

"We don't plan those. They just happen." Rainbow Dash said.

"You girls are ether lucky or crazy to keep doing those." Misty added. "How do you do that? Going through all that and just brushing it off."

"Oh we don't brush it off." Fluttershy said. "We learn from them and work on being better from it."

"Wow, I'm sort of jealous." Misty Gale smiled. "I wish I could go on adventures."

"Your welcome to come along with us next time." Rainbow Dash said.

"Thanks, that's awesome." Misty said excitedly.

"Hey Fluttershy?" Rainbow finished her cone and turned to her friend. "Can you teach me to use that rainbow power?"

"Well I don't know what I can do...but I can try." Fluttershy said after she finished her cone.

"Good luck with that girls." Misty said.

"Come on Fluttershy. Let's go!" Rainbow Dash grabbed her and they left.

"So you got to teach me that rainbow power trick." Rainbow Dash said.

"I don't really know how to do." Fluttershy admitted.

"You have to! You did something not even Twilight can do yet." Rainbow Dash pointed out.

"Well...I remember feeling….weak at first. That bunny cloud was so real and I felt a surge of power." Fluttershy added. "I think it had something to do with my emotions."

"So can you still do it?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Yes. I believe so." Fluttershy said before she focused and turned into her rainbow power form. "Oh there we go."

"You act so casual now with that power." Rainbow Dash said looking at her in awe.

"Really? I didn't even notice." Fluttershy said. "I guess it's getting easier."

"Oh man that's cool. You have to teach me!" Rainbow Dash said.

Fluttershy turned back to normal and kicked her foot a little. "I don't know...I'm not a good teacher. That's Twilight's thing."

"I guess you have a point there. But still." Rainbow Dash sat down. "We can't ignore this."

Fluttershy nodded. "You are right. But for now, let's just hang out like we used to."

"That sounds fun." Rainbow Dash smiled at her and they left.

Meanwhile Twilight had finally finished her work and she went out to the yard where she saw Star and her twin Dusk just looking off to the sky. "Girls?"

"Mom we need to go to the Crystal Empire." Star said plainly still looking at the sky.

"What? Why?" Twilight asked going over to them.

"We can't explain it. But we NEED to go." Dusk said.

"Well...okay, it's sudden though." Twilight said. "We can go as soon as your grandparents leave."

"Uh, mom?" Dusk looked at her and pointed to Velvet and Night Light standing right there.

"You know I used to be quite the adventurer before I settled down." Velvet said happily. "And we're here to send time with the family, Cadance is family now and we would love to go with you."

"Really? But don't you have work or something coming up? I thought you two were always busy." Twilight said.

"Twilight honey, it was always you that was busy." Velvet pointed out. "Remember when you were little you always studied and never had time for anything else."

"Is that true?" Star asked.

"When she was little she didn't have a single friend. She only cared about her next book." Velvet said.

"Mom, I'm the princess of friendship now. I have a lot of friends." Twilight pointed out.

"Yes, now you do." Velvet said and smiled. "Come on, the girls are really wanting to get a move on."

Twilight looked at the twins and they were looking at her ready to move. "Well alright then, let's go."

"Another trip!" Star said happily as her and Dusk ran off.

"Those two will run me all over the world at this rate." Twilight said with a smile going after them.

"Didn't they already run her into another world?" Night Light asked.

"Haha. Let's go join them." Velvet said going after them.

They soon went to the train station and Star's ears perked up. "I hear her again."

"You do?" Twilight asked. "Who's her?"

"She needs our help mommy." Dusk said.

"Okay girls. I believe you." Twilight said. "I know a thing or two about listening to your heart."

Twilight and her family got onto the train and made their way to the Crystal Empire. Twilight was surprised on how much the girls wanted to travel after what happened with Nova's kingdom. They were hurt again after all. Twilight felt helpless to keep them safe, but didn't tell them.

It didn't take long to get to the Crystal Empire, when they arrived Cadance was there waiting for them. "Twilight!"

"Cadance? You knew we were coming?" Twilight asked as they got off the train.

"Of course, being royalty news about us travels fast." Cadance said.

"Haha, and the real reason?" Twilight smiled laughing a bit.

Cadance smiled. "Okay, the truth is Glitter Heart is still angry with me and Armor. She just ran off again."

"Wow, again? What happened this time?" Twilight asked.

"Again?" Velvet chipped in. "Who is Glitter Heart?"

"She's my first daughter." Cadance pointed out. "And I hurt her more then once."

"Why is it so hard for you girls to raise mares? It's not that hard." Night Light pointed out. "Me and Velvet raised Armor and Twilight with no trouble."

"It looks like it's up to us again honey." Velvet said. "Where was she last?"

"She was around here somewhere." Cadance said.

"I'm sorry, but I need to go." Star said running off.

"Wait, Star. Don't run off!" Twilight said going after her and Dusk.

"Is everything okay?" Cadance asked.

"Something has the twins on edge, they said they heard a voice coming from this place." Night Light said.

"That sounds weird. I want to help but I need to find Glitter Heart." Cadance said.

"Let's go then." Velvet said.

Glitter Heart wasn't far away, she was on the rooftop nearby just looking at the fields, she was having a lot of problems. Mostly she just couldn't forgive her mother for all those years of ignoring her. She was trying to fix things, but Cadance was busy yet again so she just left to be with her thoughts.

"Glitter Heart?" Velvet called out. "It's your grandparents. Please come out."

Glitter Heart heard her and jumped down from the roof. Sure it was a long drop, but she used her magic to float down gently. "Grandma?"

"There you are." Cadance said happily. "I was worried about you."

"Why? You never were before." Glitter Heart pointed out. "So what is it?"

"Well your cousins are here to visit, and we have a lot of work to do." Cadance said. "And I want you there for it."

"Oh, just work. I see, sure." Glitter Heart said walking away.

Velvet sighed and grabbed Cadance to the side. "Cadance? Can we talk?"

"Oh sure, what is it?" Cadance asked.

"You don't spend time with her do you?" Velvet pointed out bluntly.

"Twilight said that same thing. I've been trying to spend time with her, that's why she's coming with me to a business meeting." Cadance said.

"Cadance, your a sweet girl and a loving mare, I know for a fact you are amazing with kids. You babysat Twilight after all, what happened to the fun Cadance? The girl that got along with all children? I know YOU know that Glitter Heart needs a mother and a friend. Not a princess." Velvet explained.

Cadance nodded with her ears going down. "I know...I know your right, but I'm still a princess. I can't just ignore my duties."

"Cadance your duties are to your children as much as they are to the Crystal Empire. I knew you when you were growing up. Don't let Glitter Heart and Flurry Heart grow up thinking you don't care." Velvet said.

Cadance knew she was right and nodded. "You know what? I can reschedule the meeting, I want to enjoy some time with my kids."

Cadance then followed after Glitter heart. Night Light smiled at his wife. "Wow you are good at that. I see where Twilight gets it from."

"Why thank you honey. Shall we?" Velvet smiled happily and they went to join Cadance. Meanwhile Dusk was looking at her sister who was touching the crystal heart.

"Should we be touching that?" Dusk asked.

"I don't understand, this is where I heard the voice." Shining Star pointed out. "You heard it to right?"

"Kinda, I mean sure I heard a voice. But only a faint one." Dusk said. "That looks really important. We shouldn't mess with it."

"Why? It's just a glowing. Floating gemstone. Mom has like five of these hanging from the ceiling." Shining Star said removing it from the pedestal. "It is rather pretty though."

"Hello young one." Shining Star heard a voice coming from the heart gemstone she was holding.

"Whoa!" Shining Star dropped the gem. "What was that?"

"That was me, I'm the gem. Please be more careful with me." The crystal heart spoke in her mind. "I am pleased to finally meet you little star."

"Who are you? What are you?" Shining Star asked.

Dusk was looking at her confused, she clearly couldn't hear it. The voice took a breath and spoke. "I would love to continue our conversion, but we don't have much time, can you do a spell on me?"

"A spell? But I don't know what spell you want me to use." Shining Star said.

"It's true it's hard for most, but you are special. I know you can do it. Just follow the steps and don't let anything distract you." The voice said. "Here, I'll send you the spell in your mind."

Dusk watched as Shining Star's horn glowed and the crystal heart floated in the air. Twilight came up and noticed this. "What the!? Star put that back!"

"Wait mom, something is going on. We shouldn't stop her." Dusk said.

"What? Dusk that isn't a toy." Twilight went over to Shining Star. "Let go of that Star!"

Shining Star's horn's glow grew larger and suddenly the crystal Heart broke like glass. Twilight's eyes grew wide. "Oh no! Star what have you done!?"

A light then came out of the shards and an adult alicorn appeared from it. She had silver fur, her mane and tail were the blue gem color of the crystal heart and her cutie mark was a heart wrapped in ribbon. "Haa...you did it Star, I'm free!"

"Who...what? What's going on!?" Twilight said confused. "Why did you do that Star?"

"Because she asked me to." Star said feeling like she did something wrong.

"You don't understand, without the crystal heart this city is doomed!" Twilight pointed out.

"Actually, if I may say something." The alicorn said with a smile. "The gem isn't truly broken. She just released me from it."

"What do you mean?" Twilight asked.

"Watch." She used her magic and the crystal heart repaired itself and went back on the pedestal as if nothing happened. "The crystal Heart hasn't lost any power and I am finally not part of it."

"You mean there has been a alicorn in the crystal heart all this time? How? Who are you?" Twilight asked again.

"Twilight!" Cadance, her daughter and Twilight's parents all came running up. "What's going on, I heard something broke!"

Star was worried she was going to be in a lot of trouble when the alicorn spoke for her. "No harm has come to your crystal Cadance."

"Who...who are you?" Cadance asked.

"Slow down every pony. I will answer all your questions as best as I can. First off, I am an alicorn, you see I was fighting a monster a long time ago, back when alicorns were a normal thing." The alicorn said.

"Just like Nova?" Twilight asked.

"Well...no, I was around before Celestia and Luna were born. Long before actually." She explained.

"But...how? How are you still alive?" Cadance brought up.

"That story goes back a LONG way, you see. I was one of the few alicorns that stayed in this world, most of us left the world trying to get away from all the problems in the world. I fought monsters trying to keep others safe, but one of them got me and sealed me away in that crystal heart, then a dragon stole it for his hoard, things it's been so long I...I don't remember my own name, everyone I heard just called me crystal heart. So you can call me Crystal Heart." She explained more. "I understand this is confusing for most."

"Actually." Twilight smiled. "I think I understand, but how come you couldn't reach any of us? And only reached Shining Star."

"Because she is a special alicorn. Mixed with the elements of harmony she has latent powers inside of her that is more powerful then any of us." Crystal Heart said. "In fact I believe she's ready for the test."

"The test?" Shining Star looked at her confused.

"To be a true princess of course. Thanks to you I'm truly alive again, it's the least I can do." Crystal Heart said.

"But she's only a child." Cadance said.

"Shining Star, you have to choose. Will you accept to take the test? You will have to do it alone and it will get…rather strange and harsh." Crystal Heart said.

"I...I can't do it..I need mommy." Shining Star said scared.

Twilight noticed this and put a hoof around her. "Star...you need to be brave. I believe in you, Dusk believes in you. I think..you need to take this test. Not just for us, but for you. We haven't been together all that long, but in that short time you have been attacked and hurt by Chrysalis, Serenity, Burn Out. Each time we faced danger, I barely managed to save you and Dusk. And to be honest...I'm scared."

"But...mom...I..." Shining Star looked at her concerned.

"If you pass this test, I think you will overcome your fears. No, you will overcome them. Don't you want that?" Twilight said.

"I do...but I can't…why can't we just go to the human world..forgot about all this and just go to school and be normal, I don't want to be special." Shining Star said.

Twilight sighed, she figured this was the reason, Shining Star was traumatized by all the stuff that happened and ruined her image of the world and of herself. "Star...you have to do this, we can't help you. But we will be with you all the way."

"But mom!" Shining Star panicked. Dusk didn't speak up. She didn't know what to say.

"Star...you have to do this." Cadance said.

"I believe in you Star." Glitter Heart said.

"Can I come with her?" Dusk asked.

"Oh?" Crystal Heart looked at Dusk.

"She's my sister, and she's scared, I can't just sit here. I want to come with her." Dusk pointed out.

"Alright then, but you can only watch her, you can't help her, if you do she will fail." Crystal Heart said.

"Don't worry, I just want to support her." Dusk said.

"I really don't want to do this…" Shining Star said shaking.

"Hmm...ah." Velvet nudged Twilight and gave her a necklace. "Twilight? Use that trick."

Twilight smiled at her mom, she knew what her mother had in mind. She then put the necklace around Shining Star. "Here."

"What's this?" Shining Star looked at the necklace. It was pretty but it didn't look magical.

"It's a special necklace, it will keep you safe and make you brave. It's very powerful and now it's yours." Twilight said.

"Oh..oh! I think I feel it's power." Shining Star said getting a smile. "Maybe...with this I can do it, thanks mommy!"

"That's my girl. Now good luck okay?" Twilight said.

Crystal Heart smiled and brought them close. "Ready?"

The twins nodded and she used her magic to make a bubble around them and they vanished. Twilight looked at Cadance worried and she put a hoof around Twilight. "It's okay Twilight. She's your daughter, they will make it back safely."

"I hope so, I just didn't think she was so scared. How did I not see that?" Twilight asked herself. "No wonder she wanted to stay in the human world so much, that poor girl, not even a year old and all that happened to her."

"I have a feeling she will be just fine." Velvet said. "She's a Sparkle after all."

Shining Star, Dusk and Crystal Heart appeared in a valley, the sky was dark and the Crystal Empire was strangely dark. "What's this place?"

"It's a place where Harmony has been lost. You see, the world you come from is just one of many, there are millions of worlds just like ours, each one is just a little different, your test is to fix six things using your harmony magic."

"But there isn't anything to fix in our world. Mom and her friends already did all that." Dusk said.

"That's why we are here, we went into the past. I expect you to fix at least one thing, then I'll take us to the next area." Crystal Heart explained.

"So...what do I do here?" Shining Star asked.

"There is an evil stallion down in the empire. He has taken over the empire and hurt so many. What you need to do. Is to change him." Crystal Heart explained.

"But isn't changing the past a bad thing?" Dusk asked.

"Well normally yes, but during the test things can be changed with no problems." Crystal Heart explained. "I believe you can change Sombra, others have tried and they all failed. But you can do it."

"I..." Shining Star looked at her necklace. "Okay."

She took a deep breath and walked out of the bubble. She was scared but she believed Twilight's words about her. She then made her way to the darkened Crystal Empire.

She noticed a bunch of ponies working as slaves, she quickly hid and watched as the slaves worked, for some reason they were mining gems. It didn't really make much sense. Their whole city was made of gems.

She could see Sombra's castle and she made her way through the city. She noticed more slaves pulling carts and then saw some of them were going to the castle. She then got an idea and found a cart that was just filled but no pony had taken.

She quickly jumped into the cart and hid under the shiny rocks. She waited for a bit and a slave pony came over and hooked himself up to it before pulling it along.

There was a couple bumps in the road and after a bit the cart stopped. She peaked out of her hiding spot and noticed the slave pony gone and the cart was at the castle. She smiled and got out of the cart, she was rather happy she got this far.

However she didn't notice the glowing eyes standing behind her as she went for the door to the castle. "Well well, a child? I thought I threw those away like the trash they are."

Shining Star looked back and saw Sombra right behind her and he grabbed her with his magic lifting her into the air. "So Celestia thought she could send a little spy into my kingdom? Foolish."

"Gah!" Shining Star struggled in the air.

"Normally I would just snap your little neck and call it a day, but I sense a powerful magic inside you. If you give it to me. I'll let you live." Sombra said menacingly.

Shining Star panicked and her magic suddenly burst forth and hit Sombra away as well as the door to the castle. Without thinking she dashed into the castle and hid as best she could.


	15. Chapter 15

Shining Star was breathing heavily. She didn't want to do this. She was scared and she wanted Twilight to hug her, tell her it was okay. But she knew that Twilight, no. nobody was going to help her. How could she befriend a villain trying to hurt her?

She believed that Crystal Heart was just crazy at this point. "Oh little one?""

Shining Star noticed Sombra looking around for her. "Come out, we can have a nice tea party and dress up, before I make you a slave and work you to death."

Shining Star gulped and took a deep breath to calm down. She touched her necklace and she felt a strange warmth inside of her body. "All I do is run...I hide from my problems and think someone else will fix it...I'm a coward..."

"Haha, what's wrong child? Are you scared of me?" Sombra said with a bit of a laugh.

Shining Star looked over and quickly sneaked around to a door, she looked around and noticed a book, she didn't have time to read. But she noticed it was written by Sombra, she opened the book and did some speed reading. "Wait a minute...I think I get it."

Shining Star took the book and came out into the open. "Hey king Sombra!"

Sombra turned to face her. "Are you stupid? Showing yourself to me is a death wish!"

"I know the real you now." Shining Star said showing him the book. "You had friends, people that were like family to you. So what changed? Why do all this?"

"Like a child would understand!" Sombra shot a blast of magic from his horn at her.

Shining Star quickly teleported across the room. "I understand more then you know, feeling like you don't belong. Thinking you are all alone, so tell me. Who turned you against those who cared for you?"

"You foolish child. Darkness is all that I am, all I know. Thanks to my mother I realized this and I will break them free from their dark prison!" Sombra said blasting at her again.

Shining Star dodged the blast as she realized what he was talking about. "So you enslaved all these people. Hurt everything you cared about and turned against the princess that cared about you all because your mother told you to do that?"

Sombra growled. "She's the only family I have, nobody understands!"

"Oh really? My mother tried to drain my life and EAT me!" Shining Star said. "You shouldn't do everything your mother says. Do you really feel like THIS is the right thing to do?"

Sombra stopped and looked at her. He didn't know what her plan was but she made good points. "What are you on about?"

"This book tells me that you were once kind, caring. You were lonely and unsure of yourself. Your only friend was a girl named Hope. But no matter what she did...you just pushed her away." Shining Star pointed out. "You changed everything about yourself because you were told to...is that what YOU want?"

Sombra went over to a window and saw all his slaves working and being punished for no reason or the dark clouds making sure the sun wasn't able to shine down on them. "I've been so focused on working to save my mother...I never thought about what I was doing to the ponies."

"I understand you want to hurt some of them. But do they all deserve this? Your book talks about an old mare that would give you treats with Hope...do you even know what happened to her?" Shining Star pointed out.

"I remember her, she was kind to me." Sombra said.

"She's dead." Shining Star said flatly. "Most likely killed by your monsters you unleashed in the city to keep them in check."

Sombra looked at her and then out at the window again. "I always thought I was doing the right thing, the princess betrayed me, my friend betrayed me...I believed they all hurt me."

"Sombra. I'm not here to fight you or even stop you. But I want to be something you need. Your friend." Shining Star said.

"You want to be my...friend? Even though you know what I did?" Sombra asked. "Who are you?"

"My name is Shining Star." Shining Star said with a smile.

"Well thank you Shining Star, I swear I will fix my errors and change the world to be better from my mistakes." Sombra said.

Shining Star was about to speak when time froze and Crystal Heart appeared with Dusk. "That was well done Shining Star, you did it faster then I thought you would."

"Well once I learned who he was, I just had to reach out to him." Shining Star admitted. "Somehow..I did it."

"Yes you did, and because of that you are ready for the next part." Crystal Heart said.

"Another one?" Shining Star asked as Crystal Heart teleported them away.

They arrived at Ponyville next, the skies were clear and everything looked normal. Dusk looked around and then at Crystal Heart. "What's wrong with this place?"

"In this time line Applejack and Pinkie Pie don't get along, this is before Twilight came into town. You see Applejack does things her own way and so does Pinkie, your test is to get them to be friends before Nightmare Moon wakes up." Chrystal Heart said.

"Do I have a time limit?" Shining Star asked.

"Yes, good luck." Chrysal Heart pointed out.

Shining Star headed out and saw Applejack's barn, she noticed Applejack working on the farm as she usually does. Honestly Shining Star didn't know much about her. "Excuse me?"

Applejack stopped and looked at the little filly. "Huh? Who are you?"

"My name is Shining Star and I-" Shining Star tried to speak but Applejack stopped her.

"You must be the one Celestia sent here to prove my treats are better then that rotten Pinkie pie's trash." Applejack said.

"That's a bit harsh." Shining Star said mainly to herself.

"If you ask me, that little weirdo can't cook to save her life." Applejack said. "And she thinks she can cook better then me."

"What happened between you two?" Shining Star asked. "I thought you two were friends once."

"We used to be..." Applejack let out a sigh. "But that was a long time ago."

"Would you care to explain?" Shining Star asked, she wanted to know why they hated each other.

"Well to be honest...it was this fair...we used to be friends but then we started to fight over what to serve. I wanted apples and she wanted pie. So we haven't talked since." Applejack pointed out.

Shining Star looked at her confused. She found that was just a silly reason to fight. It was just food after all. "Don't you think that food isn't worth losing friendships over?"

"It's not just about the food." Applejack said. "We apples take pride in our apples, we won't stand for anyone bad mouthing our apples."

Shining Star nodded. "Well I think I would like to hear this from Pinkie's side, thank you for your time."

"No problem little one." Applejack went back to bucking her trees.

Shining Star saw a small basket of apples and stopped. "Can I have some apples before I go?"

"Huh? Oh yeah, sure." Applejack nodded.

"Thank you." Shining Star took the small basket and walked away.

Shining Star went to Ponyville and saw Pinkie's place, she went in and saw Pinkie cooking some pies. "Ms. Pinkie?"

Pinkie looked over at her and frowned. "What do you want? The place is closed for the fair."

"Actually...I wanted to talk to you. About Applejack." Shining Star said.

"Applejack? I don't care about her anymore." Pinkie said keeping her frown.

Shining Star could see she was lying, Shining Star went over to her and sighed. "Pinkie, you make friends with everyone. And you and Applejack are the best of friends. Heck, you two are actually family. So don't you want to be friends with her?"

"Look..." Pinkie stopped and turned to her. "We were friends, we had a stupid fight about food and she hates me now...I can't be friends with everyone..."

Shining Star knew Pinkie wasn't like that, she would never give up on making or keeping friends. "So are you just giving up? She's family."

"I tried to patch up our friendship, she wants nothing to do with me." Pinkie said.

Shining Star looked at Pinkie's pies she was making and got an idea. "Can I make a pie?"

"Well...sure." Pinkie said going back to her work.

Shining Star never cooked before, but she knew what she had to do. She set down the basket of apples and took some of Pinkie's pie dough.

She took a look at Pinkie's pie recipe. She followed the recipe to the letter and cut up the apples into thin slices using her magic. She honestly made a big mess but she was having fun baking. She finished the pie and then put it into the oven.

It was already on thanks to Pinkie cooking, she waited and Pinkie took her pies. "Turn off everything when you are done okay?"

Shining Star nodded and watched her leave. She smiled and the pie was soon done. She carefully took out the pie and used her magic to bring over some whipped cream, she carefully added it on the top of the pie and went to the fair with it.

She noticed how everyone was out and having fun, she smiled and looked for her targets. Pinkie Pie and Applejack were arguing over what was better, pie or apples. She honestly didn't know why they would get so worked up over food.

Shining Star went over to their food stalls and heard them get louder. "Don't buy her boring old pies. Their nothing like a good juicy apple!"

"What!? Apples barely have any flavor, and my pies are not old!" Pinkie shouted. "If anything you are the one selling rotten apples! My pies are fresh and tasty, all sorts of flavors and way better then those lame apples!"

"How dare you!" Applejack growled at her.

Shining Star then came between them with her pie. "I don't think you girls understand where true flavor comes from."

"Hey aren't you that kid from before?" Applejack asked.

"Oh great, what do you want?" Pinkie asked.

"I want you two to make up, you both are fighting over something silly. I mean "What's better. Pie or apples?" What's that even about? Why haven't you two tried it together?" Shining Star pointed it out.

"What...like a pie apple?" Applejack asked.

Both Shining Star and Pinkie looked at her confused, Shining Star cut some pieces from her pie and gave them both a slice. "Just have some apple pie, I'm sure this will help you both."

"Pinkie took a bite of the apple pie and her smile came back. "Mmm, it's so….good! It's perfect!"

"I'm not going to have pie, that's everything I'm against." Applejack said.

"Are you seriously going to turn down a pie that a filly made just for us?" Pinkie said. "She worked hard on it."

"Well...when you put it like that." Applejack took her slice and took a bite. "Mmm! This is, it taste so good. It's amazing!"

"I'm not very good at friendships or anything like that. But don't you think you two would be better, together. Just like this pie? The pie is delicious because it works together with the apples."

"She has a point." Applejack said feeling bad. "We used to be the best of friends."

"We were more then friends before...we were like family." Pinkie agreed.

Applejack went over to Pinkie and smiled. "Pinkie..I'm sorry, I hurt your feelings over something silly..."

"I guess we both overreacted huh?" Pinkie said. "Can we...be friends again?"

"I would like that." Applejack nodded.

Suddenly time froze and Crystal Heart appeared with Dusk Sparkle. "You did it sis!"

"Yay! I passed another test!" Shining Star said happily.

"You are good at this. You saved a villain and rekindled lost friendship." Crystal Heart said with a smile. "The third test will be something a little different."

"What's that?" Shining Star asked.

Crystal Heart then teleported them away and they were in front of Twilight's tree home. Dusk and Shining Star however didn't know it was her old place. "What's this place?"

"This is where Twilight lived before she became a princess, your mother has made...questionable choices in the past. Your goal is to fix something she caused."

"You want me to fix a mistake our mom made? What is it?" Shining Star asked.

"A little mare named Diamond Tiara is having a party for getting her cutie mark. In our normal history the Cutie mark crusaders form here, however Diamond Tiara gets ignored because Twilight said having a cutie mark wasn't important." Crystal Heart said.

"Huh? Why would I fix something like that?" Shining Star asked.

"That's the test, to deem if Twilight made the right call, she wasn't a princess back then. But she never did anything to fix this." Crystal Heart explained. "Just go to Pinkie's and find out what needs to be fixed."

Shining Star nodded and went to Pinkie's place, she looked around and saw Diamond Tiara watching everyone everyone have fun without her and Silver Spoon. She noticed Twilight talking to her friends and was confused that she didn't notice the lonely girls in the same room..

She went over to them and smiled. "Hey."

"Uh, what do you want?" Diamond Tiara asked not seeing her wings so she figured she was just a unicorn. "Can't you see I'm busy?"

"Busy?" Shining Star looked at her confused. "This is your party and you are here doing nothing."

"Like anyone cares." Diamond Tiara said.

"But Tiara." Silver Spoon tried to speak but Diamond Tiara glared at her. "Sorry..."

Shining Star sat down next to them, she looked over the party and saw Apple Bloom meeting Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle. "So what happened?"

"What do you mean?" Diamond Tiara asked.

"What happened to you to be so...rude." Shining Star pointed out.

"What? I'm not rude. I deserve to be showered in love." Diamond Tiara said.

"Why? Bullying others? Being mean to your best friend? How are you more important then any pony else?" Shining Star looked at her a little annoyed. "What makes you special enough to be like that?"

"Hey lay off. Diamond Tiara has a lot going on in her life." Silver Spoon said.

"No...she's right." Diamond Tiara said. "I've been selfish and I treat you so poorly..I'm sorry Silver Spoon."

"Diamond Tiara..." Silver Spoon hadn't heard her say something nice to her in a long time so she was taken by surprise.

"The truth is...my mother is always treating me like I don't matter unless I'm just like her...I just want her to love me...and I can never get her to notice me….I take it out on others...and that's not right." Diamond Tiara said. "I'm a horrible friend..."

"I wouldn't say that." Shining Star said. "Because it takes a true friend to admit when their wrong."

"Yeah, thank you...um.." Diamond Tiara looked at Star unsure of her name.

"My name is Shining Star." Shining Star said happily.

"Well thank you Shining Star, I won't be my mother…I don't want to be her." Diamond Tiara said and stood up. "Come on Silver Spoon, let's join the others and party!"

She ran downstairs and joined the other ponies and Silver Spoon smiled at Shining Star. "I don't know how you did that, but thank you."

Silver Spoon joined her friend and Shining Star watched as time froze again, her sister and Crystal Heart came into the room. "So Shining Star. What is your answer? Did Twilight make the right call?"

"I...I don't think so." Shining Star admitted. "She was a student of Celestia. Learning about friendship and solving problems. But she missed this one completely and made things worse. But she was just a student and was learning the friendship signs herself at the time."

"So Twilight made a bad call but she is too inexperienced to have made that call?" Crystal Heart said looking at her funny. "What isn't much of an answer."

"Then...I would have to say..she didn't make the right call, Apple Bloom and her friends are nice, their good friends. But Diamond Tiara is also a nice pony deep down and nobody even tried to be her friend except Silver Spoon." Shining Star said.

"You have good judgment Shining Star, you need to be a little more open with your true feelings however, your call was correct, Twilight should have seen this and tried to involve herself more, she didn't and that down the line only caused problems later." Crystal heart explained. "You have passed another test, you are about half way done."

"You did it sis!" Dusk said jumping for joy.

"Thanks sis!" Shining Star smiled at this.

"Let us move right along shall we?" Crystal Heart said using her magic to teleport them all again. Shining Star then found herself in her old pod. She didn't know where the others were but it was freaking her out.

"What the? I'm...I'm here!?" Shining Star panicked. "Crystal Heart, get me out of here!"

"Who?" She heard none other then Chrysalis's voice as she came over and looked at her pod. "That was odd. Are you okay my little changeling?"

Shining Star looked at her confused and then she looked at the see through part of the pod and saw her reflection. She noticed she was a changeling. "What?"

Chrysalis smiled and opened the pod. "You must have had a bad dream, I bet it's from not eating enough love. Good thing I have just the thing for you."

Shining Star looked at her confused as what she meant by that but then she stepped out of the pod and viewed her surroundings. She noticed she was back where she was born. It was cold but she felt something she never had before, a hunger she couldn't shake off.

"I'm...so...hungry…." Shining Star said feeling the emptiness in her stomach.

"Then have a little meal." Chrysalis said as some worker drones came in with a tied up mare, she looked strangely familiar, she looked just like Shining Armor her uncle but she was clearly a mare. "This is Gleaming Shield, older sister to that Twilight Sparkle. I want you to eat this mare."

"Go ahead monster..." Gleaming Shield said. "But even if you kill me, another will fight in my place."

"Haha, you heroine types are all the same, it's a shame really. But even if you say that...I've already beaten your friends, family. You are the last one that can fight back. And when my daughter eats you, Equestria will fall. Just like your Crystal Empire." Chrysalis said with a grin. "Now eat her my little one."

Shining Star didn't want to, she hated the idea of even thinking about it. But the deep endless hunger inside of her was making it impossible to fight it. She tackled Gleaming Shield to the ground and bared her fangs. "So...hungry..."

Gleaming Shield however didn't show fear, she just...accepted her fate but still had a look of determination in her eyes. Shining Star wanted nothing more then to bite down and drink her love...but she couldn't. "I...I can't."

"What was that?" Chrysalis asked looking shocked.

"I said I can't!" Shining Star said breaking the lock on Gleaming Shield's chains. "I won't eat another living being!"

"You dare defy me child!?" Chrysalis growled.

Gleaming Shield smiled and broke the magical seal on her horn before hitting the changeling guards away. Shining Star quickly grabbed Gleaming Shield's hoof. "Come on! This way!"

Gleaming Shield didn't know why this changeling was helping her, but she nodded and they ran out of the castle. They made it into a hallway and a bunch of changelings came out of the walls. "Traitor!"

Gleaming Shield then used her magic to make a barrier around them both and rushed through all the changelings. They quickly made it outside and Gleaming Shield looked at Shining Star. "You...saved me..why?"

"I...I don't want to hurt anyone...you need to go, quickly!" Shining Star said.

"You know…I thought all changelings were evil...but you risked everything for me. Thank you." Gleaming Shield said before running off.

"Child!" Chrysalis shouted right behind her. Shining Star turned to face her and Chrysalis grabbed her. "I thought you were ready to come out of your pod, but just like that failure Thorax you disappointed me."

"Just...eat me already..." Shining Star said trying to be brave.

"Eat you? Oh my child, I wouldn't eat you. I'm no cannibal, I killed Thorax sure, but you...your so young, I'll just put you back into your pod until your willing to be a good changeling." Chrysalis said.

Shining Star gulped and was dragged back to the pod when time froze once again. Crystal Heart came into the room and helped Shining Star out of Chrysalis's grip. "You did it little one."

"Crystal Heart? What was that? Why am I a changeling? Where is Dusk? Who was that girl?" Shining Star asked completely lost.

"I understand your confusion. This is a trial based on another world. Where Shining Armor was born a mare and not a stallion. Her name is Gleaming Shield, here you were born a changeling and not a alicorn. I sent you here to test your loyalty and morals. A world where eating ponies is normal and yet you stayed true to yourself." Crystal Heart said.

"I was scared though..." Shining Star admitted.

"Being scared is normal. Everyone is scared when monsters attack. But if you let fear rule you...you can't save anyone." Crystal Heart explained.

"What do you mean?" Shining Star tried to ask when she was teleported to the next trial.

She noticed she was back to normal and saw Sombra and Tirek talking with a bunch of her friends and family trapped in cages. "Oh no..."

"So you think letting them live is a good idea?" Sombra asked.

"I would get no joy in killing them, plus there is one more alicorn with magic I want, this is a good trap." Tirek pointed out.

Shining Star was hiding now, she didn't know what to do. She couldn't fight. She only took on Sombra before because she had a chance to talk him down and she was the only one there. But her family and friends were all trapped there now.

She looked over her hiding spot and saw Dusk. "Hey you monsters! My sister won't stand for this! She's brave and will stop you!"

They turned to Dusk and Tirek smiled. "That's what we're counting on, she will know true fear before we crush the life out of her and then we will finish you all off."

Sombra then slapped Dusk. "Quiet down fool!"

Shining Star watched as he did that. She felt angry, she then jumped out and growled. "Hey! don't you touch my sister!"

The villains looked at her and Triek grinned. "I told you she would come."

"Let my sister go right now or else!" Shining Star said shaking.

"Ha! You hardly sound serious, your actually shaking like a baby!" Sombra said mockingly.

"What will you do?" Tirek said grabbing Dusk out of her cage. "Try and be the hero? Or run away like you always do."

"I won't….I won't run!" Shining Star said before she changed at them. "Sis!"

"Star!" Dusk screamed as Tirek smacked her away.

Shining Star flew back and landed on the floor in pain, she struggled to get up and charged again only for Sombra to hit her away this time. Dusk was crying and struggling, she hated seeing this. "Star...please, just run!"

"She is a failure. Rushing to her doom like a stupid child." Tirek said and wrapped his hands around Dusk's neck. "Let's see if she can handle the loss of a loved one."

"Gah...Star...run..." Dusk barely managed to speak.

Shining Star's eyes went wide, she couldn't take it anymore. Her alicorn magic suddenly flared. "Let her go!"

"Oh? It seems the little baby is angry." Tirek said not scared at all.

"AH!" Shining Star screamed as a dark purple blast came from her horn and Sombra was caught in the blast being turned to ash making Tirek back up.

"What!? Where is that power coming from!?" Tirek looked at what was left of Sombra.

"Sis!?" Dusk looked at her shocked and then kicked Tirek's side making him drop her and she quickly got out of the way.

"Ah! Why you little!" Tirek tried to grab her again when Shining Star teleported in front of her sister and touched his hand with her horn making his hand turn to dust. "AH! what the!? How can you be so strong!?"

"You...hurt...my...sister...my...family...I'll never forgive you!" Shining Star then thrust her horn into his throat.

"Gah...ah…." Tirek couldn't move due to the shock and Shining Star used her dark magic to dissolve him into a puddle.

"Sis...you...you killed them..." Dusk said freaking out looking at her sister.

"I...I had to..." Shining Star said calming down and her dark magic slowly faded. "I'm sorry..."

"She's not wrong." Crystal Heart said appearing before them. "They would have killed you both if you didn't kill them."

"Was...was it the right thing to do?" Shining Star asked. "I feel awful."

"But do you feel stronger? Braver?" Crystal Heart asked in return.

"I...actually yes." Shining Star said with a nod. "I'm done running, I can fight back when I need to."

"And with that said. You pass the trial, one left to go." Crystal Heart said. "This trial was made to test your bravery, and now you with the last trial. Let's see if you can be a true alicorn."

Shining Star then found herself in a room with Sunset and Twilight. Both smiled at her and Twilight spoke. "Are you ready Star?"

"Ready for what?" Shining Star asked.

"This." Sunset said as she gave her went over to a door.

Shining Star went outside and saw three doors She saw a symbol of the moon and a symbol of the sun. and a symbol of of a pink heart with pink dots circling the left side and went straight instead of to the right, Twilight and Sunset came out with her and kept their smiles. Sunset pointed over to the sun symbol. "This test will show us, just what kind of princess you will become."

"So...I have to pick which door I have to go through?" Shining Star asked.

Twilight stood over by the door with the moon and nodded. "Your fate is decided here. It's your path to take, but you can only take one."

"Wait..what's the middle door?" Shining Star kept up her questions.

"Something even we don't know about." Sunset explained. "You can follow my path, the path of the sun."

"Or you can follow in my path. The path of the moon." Twilight explained.

Then they both spoke in unison. "Or you can follow your own path into the unknown."

Shining Star looked at them, then at the doors. She needed to think. She wanted to follow in Twilight's footsteps. But she enjoyed Sunset's demeanor, and who she was. Both she looked up to. But doing all these trials, all these tests. She realized that she couldn't be them, she didn't want to be them. She wanted to follow her own path now.

"Mommy...I looked up to you...no I still do, I love you and I always will...but I can't go that path...because it's your path. Same with you Sunset. Your like the older sister I never had, you were there for me when I couldn't believe in myself...I wanted to be like you...even the running away part. But I can't run away...I can't be like you Sunset." Shining Star explained.

They both looked at each other and at her with a nod. "I still love you both, so...thank you both for being there for me..."

Shining Star hugged them both, they couldn't help but hug her back. Shining Star knew they weren't the same ones that she knew, but it still felt nice. She then went in front of the harmony door and took a deep breath before opening the door and going through.


	16. Chapter 16

Shining Star was blinded by a light for a second and then then she found herself in a strange void. With screens of her life all over the place. Granted it was much, she wasn't even a year old after all. Crystal Heart then appeared with Dusk and smiled at her. "You have done well little one."

"Where are we?" Shining Star asked.

"This is a special place for alicorns, or I should say for princesses." Crystal Heart explained.

"You did it sis!" Dusk cheered. "I'm so proud of you!"

"Thank you Crystal Heart, I feel like a different pony. A better filly because of these trials." Shining Star said.

"You did everything, we just watched. You have earned this reward." Crystal Heart said. "Normally at times like these I would give you alicorn magic. But you have your own, so I would like to give you this."

Crystal Heart then summoned a beautiful blue crown, the front of it had two wings and a heart between them, in the middle of the heart was the magic element of harmony and all around the crown had the other elements as gems around the circlet.

"This was made from the tree of harmony, the tree is gone now. But a long time ago we had more then one. This crown was made from one kings foolishly cut down, but it's power is true." Crystal Heart said. "It also fits you nicely."

"Sis look!" Dusk pointed to Shining Star flank. "You have a cutie mark!"

"I do?" Shining Star looked at her flank and saw it was the same symbol as the one she saw on the door she opened. "It's...it's the symbol of harmony!"

"Your talent IS harmony little Star, congratulations." Crystal Heart said. "Shall we go back to your family?"

"Yes please. I'm ready to go home." The twins said in agreement.

Crystal Heart nodded and used her magic to bring them back to their time. Twilight was pacing the whole time and when they appeared Twilight and the gang jumped. Shining Star smiled at them. "I'm back!"

"Girls!" Twilight hugged them both. "Are you okay? What happened?"

"I can tell you what happened, Shining Star passed with flying colors." Crystal Heart explained.

"Then that means." Cadance spoke up. "She's a princess now."

"Meet the princess of harmony!" Dusk said happily. "She's so awesome!"

Shining Star blushed from this. "It was hard at times. But I pulled through and I feel like a different pony. I'm not scared anymore."

"Star...I'm so proud of you..." Twilight teared up a little.

"Thanks mommy." Star nuzzled her mom.

"We have to tell all of Equestria!" Velvet said happily. "My granddaughter is a princess!"

"Let's go to Canterlot and Celestia can announce it!" Nightlight said.

"Sounds like a lot of fun. Let's go." Shining Armor said.

As they all headed out to Canterlot Shining Star and Dusk Sparkle told them everything that happened. Twilight wasn't sure how Star managed to do half of what she did, even shocked when they told them about the time she used dark magic.

"So Shining Armor was a girl named Gleaming Shield?" Cadance asked and looked at her husband. "Uh..I can see that actually."

"What!?" Shining Armor blushed. "I would make a terrible girl!"

"What about the fact that my baby used DARK magic!? That's really bad!" Twilight pointed out worried.

"Actually it was alicorn magic." Dusk admitted.

"I don't care, that's dangerous!" Twilight said.

"I'm sorry mom, but I just...I snapped. I was so scared for Dusk." Shining Star admitted.

Twilight sighed and nodded. "It's okay, I get it...I'm just glad it wasn't worse."

"Still, it sounds like you were amazing Shining Star. I wish I had adventures like that." Velvet said.

They soon arrived to canterlot and told the princesses, Celestia and Luna were both shocked and impressed that Shining Star not only passed a trial, but Crystal Heart was a thing and she had a crown ready for her.

Celestia herself had to take a little time to process it all, but she smiled and agreed to crown her daughter. It would take a couple days but it could be done. Shining Star was excited for this and then Twilight looked at the time. "Oh hey, we need to go. It's getting late and even if you are a princess you still need to go to bed around eight."

"Okay mom!" The twins then headed out.

"Those two have really changed our lives." Celestia said as they left.

"You said it. And I couldn't be happier." Twilight said before heading out.

Velvet and the others decided to stay to help with the coronation. The girls headed home and went into Twilight's castle. Twilight kissed their heads as she tucked them in. "You two have been through a lot today. Goodnight girls."

The twins went straight to sleep and Twilight yawned before going to bed herself.

The next morning Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash were up early and knocked on Misty Gale's door. "Misty!"

Misty Gale opened the door and yawned. "Uh...it's five in the morning..."

"But we and by we I mean me wants to get their rainbow power back!" Rainbow Dash said. "I even brought the others!"

"The others?" Misty Gale asked looking behind her and saw Applejack, Pinkie Pie and Rarity with them. "Oh wow."

"Yeah, I sort of told them everything and they wanted to join us." Fluttershy said.

"It sounds exciting!" Rarity said.

"I don't think we need it. But it's better to have it just in chance." Applejack admitted.

"So what sort of training do we need to do?" Pinkie asked.

"Well Fluttershy did it through her emotions. You girls need to do the same." Misty Gale said. "So we're going to do a sure fire way for you girls."

"She's right." They heard Spitfire say as she came out from Misty's house.

"Spitfire?" Rainbow Dash looked at her confused. "Why are you here?"

Spitfire looked at her and then at Misty Gale before looking away and blushing. "Let's just say….my lady needs were calling."

"Oh.." Rainbow Dash felt weird and quickly changed the subject. "So can you help us?"

"Yeah, I can help you ladies. Thanks to Fluttershy I know a lot about you girls. Let the training start!" Spitfire said.

Meanwhile in the human world Sunset Shimmer got to school, she didn't even notice the fact she was the only one there and the school was empty.

Honestly she liked the quiet so much she didn't notice. She then went to her locker and finally noticed. "Huh? Where is everyone?"

"Haha, you silly pony princess. You weren't here for my song?" Sunset turned and expected Adagio but there was a different girl there. "Huh? Who are you?"

She had rainbow hair and purple eyes, her skin was a peach color and she was wearing a black goth style Chinese dress, it was black with red rose petals on the design. "I am Radiant Waltz. A siren."

"So you know I'm from Equestria. Where are the students and teachers of this school?" Sunset glared at her.

"Well I'm here after Adagio failed to win you all over, and no. I'm not related to any of them." Radiant Waltz explained. "I got everyone yesterday, but you weren't at the concert. Why?"

"I'm not going to tell you that." Sunset said. She didn't want to say she was with Twilight and her family that day.

Radiant Waltz smiled at her. "I like you. To bad your kind is always getting in the way. I already have your friends, so why not just give up? Join your friends in bliss as I drain you all."

"Sorry, I'm not into that sort of thing." Sunset said. "Give me back my friends or else."

"Or else? What can you do? You beat the others through friendship power, I took them away, you have no power now." Radiant Waltz said with a grin.

Sunset didn't want to admit it but she was right, she would need to find her friends first. Then she remembered her newest powers. "Maybe you have my friends, but their still with me!"

She then transformed into her princess form. "You can't beat me!"

Radiant Waltz didn't even flinch. "Oh? The power of love and caring huh? I will admit your strong, but you can't beat me."

"Oh yeah? Try this!" Sunset Shimmer then blasted her with a beam of light. Radiant Waltz moved to the side and dodged it. "What!?"

"You really think I'd let you hit me? I'm beauty taken form, I would never let such things touch me." Radiant Waltz said sounding completely full of herself.

"Darn you!" Sunset shot blast after blast at her and each time Radiant Waltz dodged like she wasn't even trying. "How!?"

"Easy, I have all your friends powers, and the entire school under my power making me even stronger. Rainbow Dash's speed makes your attacks slow." Radiant Waltz explained.

"You stole their powers!?" Sunset growled annoyed.

"Doesn't everyone? They couldn't even use their powers right if they wanted to." Radiant Waltz said. "Only true beauty such as mine should wield such power."

"Give those powers back!" Sunset shouted before attacking again.

"They have amazing powers, super speed." Radiant Waltz dashed around behind her and kicked her hard into a couple lockers. "Super strength!"

Sunset Shimmer shook it off and tried to trap her in a hard light bubble. Radiant Waltz just looked at a locker and it broke off the wall and flew at Sunset, Sunset was forced to let her go and dodge. "Telekinesis!"

Sunset then fired two beams at her and Radiant Waltz blocked them with energy shields. "Hard light shields! Even talking to animals!"

Sunset looked at her funny at the last one and Radiant Waltz just shrugged. "Fluttershy's powers are rather pointless, but the last power? It could easily be the strongest one of them all."

"Wait...the last one...you don't mean?" Sunset looked at her in shock as she pulled another locker from the wall and touched it making it burst into a pink glow. "No..."

"That's right, I can charge average things into powerful bombs!" Radiant Waltz said before throwing it at her.

"Ahh!" Sunset made a shield as best she could as the charged locker blew up in her face. A bunch of debris then fell onto her making Radiant Waltz believe she killed her. "I know Pinkie could only charge food and things she liked into bombs, but with training she could easily charge anything she wanted to. And now that your out of the picture I'm free to take over more then just the silly school."

Radiant Waltz then brushed her hair back a little and then walked away. "Who wants to rule a school anyway?"

After she left Sunset moved some of the debris off of her and coughed. "She's so strong...I'll need some help..."

Sunset turned back to normal and got off the debris. She went over to her locker and opened it grabbing her book. She quickly wrote a note into the book and closed it. She sighed and went to the front of the of the school, she needed to wait for her backup.

Back in the pony world The twins were eating breakfast and talking about random things kids talk about. Twilight was up and heard the book buzzing. She took the book and read it. "Oh no...girls!?"

"Yes mommy?" Dusk asked in between bites of her oatmeal.

"School is canceled for the day, we need to go there and save them from some sort of new siren." Twilight explained.

"Oh like those girls that attacked the school before?" Shining Star pointed out.

"Pretty much, it seems like this Radiant Waltz has already stolen their powers and it looks pretty hopeless, you girls should stay here and I'll go help her." Twilight said.

"We could help." Shining Star pointed out. "It's dangerous to go alone, take us."

"I really shouldn't because it's dangerous." Twilight said. "I know you girls want to help me, but if you girls came with me...I.."

"I could fight." Shining Star explained.

"Yeah at least take Shining Star, I'll stay here and watch the castle." Dusk Sparkle said.

"Well...okay, but you have to stay close to me okay?" Twilight explained.

"Don't worry mommy, I can do that." Shining Star nodded.

"I want to see what Starlight and Melody Bloom are doing, plus I have a lunch date with Rarity!" Dusk said with a smile.

"Save me a cookie." Shining Star said. "Please?"

"Don't worry, I'll explain to them why you aren't here. Be careful okay sis?" Dusk said.

"Of course I will." Shining Star hugged her sister and then went with Twilight to the portal.

Dusk smiled and then walked off to go play with the others. Twilight and Shining Star then headed through the portal.

On the other side they saw Sunset waiting for them. "Twilight, you came, thank goodness."

"Hey Sunset!" Shining Star waved.

"Star? You seriously brought a child here?" Sunset asked looking at Twilight confused.

"She's actually quite the fighter to be honest." Twilight said. "I believe in her talent to save the day."

"I have my cutie mark now!" Shining Star said happily. "It's the mark of harmony."

"That's amazing, and you carry yourself better, you've changed. I like it." Sunset said ruffling her rainbow hair. "Just stay close to Twilight okay?"

"I know." Shining Star said.

"Okay, this girl is powerful, I used my magic and couldn't even touch her." Sunset explained. "I'm not sure what her goal is, but it can't be good."

"Do you know where she is? Or where she is keeping the others?" Twilight asked.

"No, but I think I know of a way." Sunset said taking out her gem. "I think I can track them with this."

"Then we will follow you Sunset." Twilight said.

Sunset nodded and they went on their way. Sunset was looking worried and unsure of herself. She had never been beaten that badly. Shining Star noticed this and took her hand with her own. Sunset looked down and saw her smiling face. The smile cheered her up a bit.

"You have a beautiful smile Star." Sunset said.

"Thank you." Shining Star giggled a little.

"So what happened? Just awhile ago you were really shy and unsure of yourself." Sunset pointed out.

"Well...I have been through a lot as of late...and it changed me for the better." Shining Star explained. "I went through the old princess trials and deemed the princess of harmony. I'm getting my crown soon."

"Wow, you're getting your own crown?" Sunset said looking at her impressed. "You carry yourself so much better, your becoming a princess...and at your age to."

"So what can we do about this Radiant Waltz?" Twilight asked. "Maybe-"

Sunset spotted Fluttershy go into an alleyway and stopped. "Hold up, I just saw Fluttershy...if Radiant Waltz has her under her spell we can follow her and find that witch."

Twilight, Shining Star, Sunset then quickly followed after her, they saw Fluttershy go across the alley and go to a field where the whole school seemed to be. They quickly hid and saw Radiant Waltz on a large stage with the rest of Fluttershy's friends.

"Hey that's Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, other mom and Pinkie." Shining Star pointed out. "Why are they with her?"

"My guess is she brainwashed them after stealing their powers." Twilight said.

"Yeah..that's her, what is she planning? What could she be after?" Sunset asked.

"Okay teenagers and...older people, I am a goddess of beauty, and therefore I need. No I deserve a temple in my name." Radiant Waltz said over a mic so everyone could here. "That's why I "Hired" these workers."

Sunset then noticed there was a bunch of construction workers and they were getting to work on some sort of project. "That lady must have a huge ego, she's making people building things of her."

"I have a plan." Shining Star stood up.

"Star?" Twilight looked at her. "What are you doing?"

"She doesn't know Sunset is alive, she probably knows of mom here given the fact she's from our world. But she doesn't know about me. I can get close and try to break the spell. You two can sneak around and stop her." Shining Star explained.

"Wait, you can't just-" Twilight tried to stop her but Shining Star went off without them. "Shining Star!"

"She's got a good plan, she can distract all those people while we deal with Radiant Waltz." Sunset said. "I don't like putting her in danger, but we don't have many options."

Twilight nodded as she watched Shining Star walk through the crowd. Sunset then moved out, Twilight didn't like this but she followed Sunset. Radiant Waltz then smiled. "All of you who supported me throughout all this are in a treat, these girls know how to play music so enjoy!"

Then some spotlights hit the girls and they all started to play as Radiant Waltz got off the stage, she smiled at her work and went to the back, in the back Adagio, Aria and Sonata were working the stage. "Good job girls."

"I can't believe this is actually working." Aria said. "We took over the school and beat Sunset so easily thanks to Radiant Waltz."

"I just hope she keeps her end of the deal." Adagio said annoyed.

"Don't worry Adagio, she will." Sonata pointed out.

"Of course I will girls." Radiant Waltz said coming in. "With their magic I can fix your gems and you will be back to normal in no time."

"I'm glad you found that portal to the human world. We were...ugh normal humans for awhile there." Adagio said.

Radiant Waltz took out some red gem shards and placed them down. "You girls have done what I asked, so here you go."

She did a little hymn and the gem shards glowed, she then used her magic she got from the girls and made them whole, the power they once had restored. "And it's done."

The sirens smiled and took their pendents back. "Now they have to do what we say. Finally!"

"And then we can go home!" Sonata said happily. "I hope my family is still alive."

"We've been gone for years Sonata, that jerk Starswirl probably offed them all by now." Aria pointed out.

Sonata then looked depressed and Adagio glared at Aria. She patted her on the back and smiled at her. "Hey Sonata, I bet your family is still looking for you, hey remember your little sister? What was her name?"

"Soprano..." Sonata said. "I haven't seen her in so long….I miss my family."

"Well with Radiant Waltz's help we can get home and the first thing we'll do is find your family okay?" Adagio said strangely kind.

"Thanks Adagio, you are a great friend." Sonata said getting her smile back.

"Whatever." Aria said annoyed as usual.

Adagio wasn't the best of friends, but when it mattered she was there for her friends. Radiant Waltz was about to say something when Sunset Shimmer came from behind and tackled her. "Ah!"

"Is that Sunset!?" Adagio looked at her shocked.

Sunset tried to grab the gems from Radiant Waltz and she kicked her off. "Give those back!"

"I didn't think I killed you, but I did hope." Radiant Waltz said getting up. "Attacking me here? Are you crazy? I have an army!"

"Maybe you do, but I won't give up on my friends!" Sunset explained.

Radiant Waltz looked at her clothes and noticed they got dirty from Sunset tackling her. "My...clothes...you ruined my beautiful clothes!"

"What are you going to do about it?" Twilight said coming up. "You can't handle a little dirt?"

Radiant Waltz looked at Twilight surprised. "Wait a second...princess Twilight? So you called for help huh?"

Radiant Waltz snapped her fingers. "Come on students, attack!"

However nobody showed up and she looked around. "What the? Where is my army?"

"Uh...Waltz?" Adagio pointed out to the stage and the sirens looked at the stage seeing Shining Star on the stage. Shining Star was singing making everyone start to snap out of it.

"Some little brat is breaking my spell!?" Radiant Waltz growled. "Who else did you bring!?"

"We can stop that kid!" Adagio said. "Come on girls!"

They all rushed to the stage and Sunset stopped Radiant Waltz and powered up to her crystal form. "Time to end this!"

Radiant Waltz sighed and then powered up. "Fine. Let's do it your way."

"She isn't alone!" Twilight said.

Shining Star's song managed to reach Rainbow Dash first and she shook her head looking around. "What the? Where are we?"

Shining Star smiled at her as she sang and Rainbow Dash knew what to do, she joined Shining Star in her song and played her music. This hit Fluttershy and she quickly joined in. their song reached Rarity, Applejack and Pinkie and they joined in as well.

Each of the girls suddenly turned anthro form and Rainbow Dash picked up Shining Star and flew into the air. "Sing it kid!"

"Thanks Dashie!" Shining Star took a deep breath and then the sirens came up. "Huh?"

"Not so fast!" Adagio shouted. "Hit it girls!"

They then started their own song and their sound waves became visible. Rainbow Dash growled at them. "Great, they got their powers back, Shining Star? Can you take them?"

"Just watch me!" Shining Star then grew wings from her musical powers and Adagio sang a note that shot at them.

Rainbow Dash dodged to the side and Shining Star glowed. Aria groaned at this. "Hit her!"

"I'm trying!" Adagio said blasting beams at her from every opening she could find, but each shot missed.

Radiant Waltz dashed at Twilight and punched at her but Twilight managed to get out of the way, Radiant Waltz then used her magic to grab Sunset and threw her into Twilight. "Haha, you can't stop me, nobody can stop me!"

Sunset shook off the damage and helped Twilight up. "She's tough...we can't get around her magic."

"We can't beat her in a magical fight, she has all your powers...we need to be smart." Twilight said.

"I know!" Sunset said annoyed and tried to hit her with magic but Radiant Waltz was so fast she easily dodged and hit her so hard she flew into a wall. "Gaah!"

"Sunset!" Twilight backed up.

"What's going on!?" Sonata asked.

Above Shining Star a heart appeared and it was beating to the music. "Time to bring down the beat!"

"Come on Shining Star, take them out!" Rainbow Dash shouted.

Then the heart blasted a large heart shaped beam and hit all three of the sirens at once with the pink heart blast. The sirens all looked at the beam shocked. "Ahhhh! No!"

The blast left a heart shaped crater and the girls stopped their song. Fluttershy went over to the crater and looked into it. "Are they..."

"Oh no, I didn't kill them, I just weakened them." Shining Star admitted floating down. "But we have more important matters, Radiant Waltz still has all of your powers!"

"I have an idea." Rarity said. "It's just like with Sunset, we used the power she stole from us against her. We can do the same with Radiant!"

"That's actually a good idea." Rainbow Dash said. "Let's do it!"

"Ahh!" Twilight blocked as Radiant Waltz hit her again. "Darn, she's so strong!"

"My power can't be beat!" Radiant Waltz laughed. "You fools can do nothing!"

"Maybe with our powers they can't!" The human Twilight said coming up with her friends and Shining Star. "But without our powers, your nothing!"

Twilight held out her hand and suddenly a purple glow appeared and her gem left Radiant Waltz and into Twilight's hand. "What!? How did you do that!?"

"It's because that power doesn't belong to you, it's mine!" Twilight said. "And you can't even use our powers to their fullest!"

"Twilight's right!" Rarity held out her hand and another purple glow went around her hand and her gem left Radiant Waltz and straight to her. "Our powers aren't meant for evil!"

"Their meant to protect our friends...our loved ones!" Fluttershy said doing the same as the others, her hand in a pink glow taking her gem back.

"No!" Radiant Waltz tried to hold onto her remaining gems.

"You got lucky last time, but you won't be able to do it again!" Rainbow Dash said focusing on her gem and it flew back to her in a red glow.

Applejack and Pinkie Pie flowed yellow and pink before their gems came to them and all of Radiant's power was gone. "Curse you! The gems were mine!"

"You've lost!" Sunset said. "Give up now or else!"

"Tch..." Radiant Waltz then stood up and brushed her hair back, she smiled at them and shook her head. "Looks like I lose, but I'm not down for the count."

"Break her gem!" Twilight alarmed them. "Hurry!"

Radiant Waltz then used her voice magic to blast them all back with a hymn and forced them to back off. She went over to the crater and pulled out the other sirens. "I'm impressed, later."

She then walked away and everyone from their school snapped out of it. Rainbow Dash scratched her head confused. "That was…weird, she gave up?"

"I think she realized she couldn't win." Sunset explained. "She's the type that if she can't win she won't go for it. She'll be back though, she even fixed the gems the other sirens had lost. She's strong."

"Do we always have to have a villain?" Fluttershy asked.

"With cool magical powers I guess there has to be a few downsides." Pinkie said.

"Thanks for coming Twilight." The human Twilight said. "Or...me? You really helped us out."

"Me? Oh no I didn't do much." Twilight said. "It was mostly her."

She pointed to Shining Star. "She was the one with the beautiful singing voice that saved you all."

"You were awesome Star!" Rainbow Dash ruffled her hair. "Good job!"

Shining Star smiled at this and giggled. "I only did what I thought was right."

"Excuse me?" Celestia came over to them with Luna behind her. "What happened? Why are we out here?"

"It's a long story." Rarity said. "But we'll explain everything on the way back to school."

"Good, because this whole magical business is starting to get annoying and we need to have a better way to fight against it." Luna said.

"I'm just glad your all back to normal." Twilight said. "But we need to get back, this little one is getting her coronation in a few days."

"She is!?" All the girls there said shocked.

"You are all looking at the future princess of harmony." Twilight explained.

"That would explain the sudden boost in confidence." Rainbow Dash said. "When everything is fixed Shining Star, come back and we can play some games okay?"

"We know two princesses now?" Rarity asked in shock. "I wish I was a princess."

"Well your a princess me to…." Fluttershy said and everyone looked at her confused making her blush. "I...I mean...never mind."

Rarity blushed a little from this and they all made their way back to the school. Shining Star explained her trials to all of them and Rainbow Dash had a fire in her eyes. "That is so cool! That's like...like 40% cooler then Twilight's princess adventures!"

"Hey!" Twilight puffed her cheeks faking she was mad, she honestly agreed with her.

"Hehe, Thanks Rainbow Dash." Shining Star said as Twilight and her went to the portal. "It was fun!"

"Don't be shy girls. Invite the other us sometime okay?" Applejack said.

"We can throw a sleepover with ourselves!" Pinkie said. "Wait...if another me were to touch me in a hug...would we stop existing?"

"I think that's a time thing, not another world thing Pinkie." Rarity pointed out.

"Oh! Then we can play with ourselves, finally a challenge at sports!" Rainbow Dash said excitedly but then realized how she worded it, Applejack just snickered at this and she blushed. "I meant for games!"

The girls laughed and Twilight held Shining Star's hand. "Well we'll see you all later. Take care okay?"

"Good luck, and we'll see you when you come back to visit Star." The human Twilight said.

"Wait a sec." Sunset gave Shining Star a hug. "You've grown...and I'm proud of you."

Shining Star hugged her back and then Twilight and Shining Star walked through the portal.

When they got back to Equestria Spike was there waiting for them. "Twilight!"

"What's wrong Spike?" Twilight asked.

"It's the map! It's glowing!" Spike explained.

"What!?" Twilight jumped and ran into the map room.


	17. Chapter 17

Twilight ran into the room and noticed her cutie mark was glowing. "What's going on?"

"Mom?" Shining Star came up and looked at the cutie map with her mother and saw it was showing her cutie mark over what looked like a village and it was called Hoof Hollow. "What's going on?"

"Looks like a friendship problem. Normally that would take some time to travel to, but I can fly there pretty fast." Twilight admitted.

"Can I come?" Shining Star asked.

"Well...maybe, but are you sure?" Twilight looked at her.

"Well you are the princess of friendship and I could learn from you." Shining Star pointed out.

"You have a point." Twilight nodded. "Okay then."

"Hey mind if I come?" Starlight asked coming in, she was holding a sandwich and Spike was on top of her for some reason.

"Starlight? Spike?" Twilight noticed them come in, she didn't know what to expect and she didn't want to be alone. "Well okay you guys can come."

"Where is Melody Bloom?" Shining Star asked.

"Actually I don't know." Starlight said. "I hope she's okay."

"We can worry about that later. We have to go." Twilight said picking up Shining Star and putting her on her back.

Twilight then flew out of her castle and Starlight followed using her magic to make her fly. "So what can we expect?"

Twilight shrugged. "Some place called Hoof Hollow. I don't really know anything about it."

"Hoof Hollow?" Starlight thought about, she then remembered. "Wait!"

"Huh?" Twilight stopped. "What's wrong?"

"I'll be right back!" Starlight quickly flew back.

Shining Star looked down at her mom. "Hey mom?"

"Yes sweetie?" Twilight looked up at her.

"I have to ask you something...rather personal..." Shining Star messed with her own hoof.

"What's wrong?" Twilight asked. She was ready to answer any question as a mother.

"I...I just...I have...feelings and I don't know how to express them." Shining Star said getting serious. "Thanks to that trial I can be more open about it."

Twilight gulped at this news. She was now worried but she let her daughter speak. "Is this about a boy?"

"Maybe? I just want to know if I should act on my feelings for my sister." Shining Star explained. "I mean I love Dusk, but what if I...love Dusk?"

Twilight stopped her wings and they fell from the sky, she quickly got her thoughts back on track and flew back up. "Star!"

"Is that bad!?" Shining Star asked still shocked from the fall.

"Listen...Star, I love my brother, heck when I was your age...I had fallen in love with him." Twilight admitted. "But what you have, it's just a crush. It's not really love. Just, love your sister as a sister okay?"

"Okay mommy, I just don't know how to deal with my feelings...you know?" Shining Star admitted.

"Trust me...I know what you are going through." Twilight said. "Tell you what? I'll teach you how to deal with it after the coronation okay?"

"Really? That sounds fun, okay mom I'll hold you to it!" Shining Star said.

Twilight nodded. "Of course sweetie."

Then Starlight came back and this time in a hot air balloon. "Sorry Twilight, but I got someone that can help us!"

"Who?" Twilight asked.

Trixie then poked her head out and smiled at her. "Well well, the princess of friendship needs the great and powerful TRIXIE to solve a friendship problem? This is going to be fun."

"Oh gosh..not her!" Twilight looked annoyed.

"But she does know more about the world to be honest." Spike said. "She travels and could help us."

"Fine. Whatever." Twilight said before letting out a sigh.

"So what can you tell us about this Hoof Hollow?" Starlight asked.

"Well it's been years since I went there, I was just a filly back then. There was a bunch of nice people there. To be honest I don't see how there could be a friendship problem there." Trixie explained.

"Do you know anyone from there?" Starlight asked.

"Well there was this really nice girl named Butterscotch Cinnamon. I remember she loved making pies and always dreamed of being a chef."

"Butterscotch?" Starlight asked. "That sounds weird."

"It was a long time ago. I hope she's still there." Trixie said.

Thanks to their talking and Twilight being annoyed with Trixie coming along the trip wasn't long and they came to a field, however the field wasn't actually a field, they noticed the field itself was inside what looked like a giant stump, and of course there was a good sized town there. "What the?"

"Oh I forgot mention, Hoof Hollow was built on the remains of a giant tree." Trixie pointed out.

"This is amazing!" Twilight said as they landed near the town. "Okay everyone, let's look for the problem."

Trixie, Starlight and Spike jumped out of the hot air balloon and followed Twilight and Shining Star into the town, Twilight looked around and noticed the town didn't have a lot of people. "Stop!"

Twilight and the gang looked towards the voice that called out. There was an old stallion and he came over to them. "You can't go in there!"

"What why?" Starlight asked.

"Because this town is cursed!" the old stallion said. "Anyone that goes in there never comes out the same!"

"Calm down sir. What's the problem?" Twilight stayed calm trying to understand why he was so scared.

"I used to live in that home over there." The old stallion said pointing to a big house. "That was my home when I was a child. I haven't lived there in a long time."

"Why? What's wrong with it?" Spike asked.

"I said it's cursed! That place is haunted!" The old man said.

"Okay I really want to see this now." Starlight said going into the town.

"What's haunted mean?" Shining Star asked.

"It means ghosts! We can't go in there!" Spike said freaking out.

"I don't get it." Shining Star was completely lost at this point.

"Come on Trixie! This will be so awesome!" Starlight said excitedly at the door to the home.

"Well this could be the problem. Let's look into it." Twilight said going to the door.

"Ar-are you sure about this?" Trixie said shaking. "I'm not...I'm not a fan of stuff like this."

"It's okay Trixie, you can hold my hoof if your scared." Starlight offered.

Twilight and Shining Star went inside the house, Twilight didn't believe in that sort of stuff. She was a mare of science after all, even though she was a magical tri colored pony. The irony was not lost on her.

Inside the house it was old broken down and a lot of mold and trash. She looked around a hallway trying to see what was around.

"Um...Twilight?" Starlight looked at her confused.

"What is it?" Twilight asked.

"Come to the kitchen….like right now!" Starlight called out.

Twilight came out of the hallway saw Starlight and Trixie, Trixie was holding onto Starlight like her life depended on it. Twilight came over and saw a floating table. "Are one of you doing that?"

"No!" Trixie said shaking.

"It just started to happen!" Starlight explained. "This is awesome!"

"Now can you be enjoying this!?" Trixie asked freaking out.

"Come on girls, this is just a prank by some pony. A simple spell." Twilight explained.

Shining Star and Spike were upstairs looking around and Shining Star went into a bedroom. She noticed it was clean and well kept unlike the rest of the house. "Hey Spike, look at this."

Spike came over and stopped when he saw the room. "Why is that room so...clean?"

Shining Star dusted off a book and opened it. The pages were so old they turned to dust as soon as she touched them. "That's odd."

"This place gives me the creeps, we shouldn't be here." Spike said.

"Visitors? It's been so long!" They heard a voice from above, they looked up and saw a floating mare that was see through. She had a green gooey looking mane and tail and her fur was a beautiful blue. Her eyes were pure red and she had a smile on her face. "Hi!"

"AHHHH!" Spike screamed and ran for it so fast he was gone in seconds.

"What's his deal?" The ghost asked.

"Are you a haunted?" Shining Star asked.

"Hehe, no silly. That's what I'm doing here, I'm a ghost pony." The ghost said. "Are you not scared of me?"

"Are you bad?" Shining Star asked.

"Bad? no. my name is Silk by the way. Silk Echos." Silk said floating down to her.

"Then I have nothing to be scared of. My name is Shining Star." Star said with a smile.

"Wow, your the first mare that didn't run screaming from me." Silk echo said.

"I don't know anything about you, but some old man says you cursed this place." Shining Star explained.

"Well...I sort of did..." Silk Echo admitted.

"Shining!" Starlight ran up and grabbed Star before pulling her away. "Get away from her!"

Twilight came up and stood in front of Shining Star. "Who are you...what are you!?"

"I'm a ghost mare." Silk explained again. "My name is Silk Echo."

"Silk Echo?" Twilight examined her. "Your see through...you can't be a real spirit."

"Why not?" Silk Echo asked. "I can even prove it."

"But ghosts aren't real! Your not real." Twilight said trying to not believe what she was seeing.

"What's not real?" Trixie asked coming in.

"Watch this." Silk Echo said before jumping into Trixie's mouth and going inside her.

"What the!?" Starlight jumped back. "Trixie!?"

Trixie's eyes turned red and she clapped. "See? I took over your friend's body, but don't worry I can leave anytime."

"Silk!" Shining Star pulled away from Starlight. "That's a no no! Get out of her body, that's hers."

"But it feels nice...do I have to? She's so soft." Silk Echo pointed out.

"Silk, we can't be friends if you do bad things." Shining Star said.

"Aw, but I want to be friends. Fine." Silk Echo then left her body. "Sorry, when I take over a body I get attached."

"Oh gosh that's cold!" Trixie said shaking.

"You okay Trixie?" Starlight asked.

"Yeah, it was weird...but she wasn't trying to overpower me or anything, she was...she acts like a child." Trixie pointed out.

"Okay so you have some ghost like powers. But there must be some reason, a logical one as to why you can do that." Twilight said.

"Mom?" Shining Star tugged on her mane a little.

"Yes Star?" Twilight turned to her daughter.

"I think she's the one that needs help, she's why we are here." Shining Star explained.

"I was actually thinking the same thing Star." Twilight agreed.

They then made their way out of the house and Silk stopped at the door. "You all are going already?"

"Can't you come with us?" Twilight asked.

"I...well I could, but everyone hates me...I shouldn't leave." Silk Echo explained.

"That's okay, Mom? I'll stay with Silk, you should look around town and figure out what's going on." Shining Star said.

"What!? We can't leave her with a ghost!" Spike said.

"I agree!" Trixie nodded.

"No...she's right, Silk doesn't seem the type to hurt people." Twilight said. "Just be careful okay?"

"I will." Shining Star said going back inside.

Silk Echo smiled and tried to hug her but just went through her. "Thanks!"

They walked out to the street and a mare poked her head out. "Psst!"

"Huh?" Twilight looked over. "Who are you?"

"Come here." The mare called out quietly.

Twilight and the gang went over to her and she let them inside. "Who are you?"

"I saw you ran into that...freak." The mare said. "You shouldn't go near those things."

"Wait, those? As in more?" Trixie asked shaking.

"You probably didn't see it, but our town is split into two parts. Us ponies and those...ugh, monsters." the mare explained.

"Why do you live in a town with monsters?" Starlight asked.

"Because it's our town, we can't just leave." The mare said.

"Can you tell us what's going on?" Twilight asked. "What's with this town?"

"Well it's-" The mare tried to say something but then a large stallion came in.

"What is going on here!? We don't allow strangers in this town!" The stallion said with a growl. "Get out!"

"But sir, we are just trying to get some info." Trixie said.

"I said go!" The stallion said shoving them all out of the house. "Nobody wants anything to do with anyone here, if you come back I won't be so nice!"

He slammed the door on them and Trixie rolled her eyes. "Jeez, some people."

"I don't know, that mare was scared. But I don't think it she was scared of just the monsters." Starlight pointed out.

"Well with a father like that I can see why." Spike said.

Twilight just sighed and then saw a mare wave at them from afar. "Huh? Wait. Who is that?"

They all followed Twilight as she went over to the mare, she saw there was a hoof made line she was standing behind. "Hi!"

"Who are you?" Twilight asked.

She had a red mane and tail and had cinnamon colored eyes, her fur was a pretty butterscotch color and she didn't have a cutie mark. "My name is Bubble Wand, are you a pony?"

"Well yes we all are." Twilight said.

"Stop!" They heard another voice and a Butterscotch furred mare ran over and went in front of Bubble Wand. "Don't hurt her! She didn't cross the line!"

"Whoa whoa, come down, we won't hurt her or anyone." Starlight said.

Trixie looked at the adult and then realized who it was. "Butterscotch!?"

Butterscotch looked at her and then smiled. "Trixie? Oh my gosh, I can't believe it's you!"

Trixie smiled and hugged her. "You look amazing! It's been so long!"

Butterscotch smiled and hugged her back. "I can't believe you came back."

"Butterscotch, this is Starlight, my best friend. Spike, a great dragon buddy...and Twilight." Trixie introduced them. "So who is that little one?"

Butterscotch brought Bubble Wand up. "This is my daughter, Bubble Wand."

"Why were you so scared for her?" Starlight asked.

"Oh that..." Butterscotch looked around and then went back to her home. "Come inside, I'll explain everything."

They all followed her in and Butterscotch sat at her table and there was a pie in the middle of the table. "Sit down."

Trixie and the rest sat down and Butterscotch then served each of them a slice of pie, Bubble Wand sat down next to her mother and Butterscotch smiled at her before turning to them. "It was a long time ago...but just...just one day monsters started to appear."

"They did?" Twilight asked. "Why attack this place? It's so out of the way."

"That's just the reason. We're so out of the way nobody really comes here, most of the ponies who lived here are mares. So monsters came here and...well..." Butterscotch explained. "They...took advantage of us."

"What does that mean?" Starlight asked.

"I have no idea." Spike said taking the pie he had and eating it. "Mm, what kind of pie is it? It's really good."

"It's Butterscotch-cinnamon." Trixie said. "And she meant...monsters forced themselves on the mares here."

"I don't follow." Spike said confused.

"I'll tell you when you are older." Twilight said. "So is Bubble wand..."

"You can show them honey, it's okay. This is Twilight Sparkle, the princess." Butterscotch said.

"Okay mommy!" Bubble Wand then melted into the floor and popped up completely red, she looked like a puddle of slime.

"She's a slime mare." Butterscotch explained.

"You gave birth to a monster?" Starlight asked.

"She's not a monster!" Butterscotch shouted hitting the table. "She's...she's just a child..."

"I..I'm sorry, I didn't mean anything by it." Starlight said feeling bad.

"No...I just...those ponies on the other side hate Bubble Wand and those like her just because their different." Butterscotch said.

"So even after you were...you know? You still raised your baby?" Twilight asked.

"Of course. It took awhile sure, but I realized my child didn't do that to me, it wasn't her fault and I can't hold it against her, she needed me and even though I was banished to the monster side of the town I don't regret a thing." Butterscotch explained.

"But...how did this all happen? How did monsters attack this place without the princesses knowing?" Spike asked.

"I...I'm not really sure." Twilight said.

"You really don't know?" Butterscotch asked.

"I think I know." Trixie said. "It all happened years ago, and remember the princesses didn't do much back then."

"It's true." Butterscotch said. "Monsters only appeared because the so called guardians of the kingdom let monsters go. Truth be told it only got worse a couple years ago."

"Let me guess, when Twilight became a princess?" Trixie pointed out looking at Twilight.

"Actually yes." Butterscotch said with a nod.

"Imagine that, the princesses ruining lives because they can't do their job right." Trixie said making Twilight growl at her.

"That's...I'm so sorry Butterscotch." Twilight felt awful but didn't know what to say.

"Princess Twilight...I don't blame you...at least not anymore." Butterscotch said and looked at her daughter. "If you princesses did do your jobs right I wouldn't have my beautiful little girl."

"Aw." Starlight was happy that Butterscotch took it all so well.

"You girls need to see the others." Butterscotch said getting up. The others nodded and went outside with her.

"Oh girls!" Butterscotch called out and a bunch of fillies came out, each one had different parts. Some of the fillies has bat wings, others had only half bodies. They were all so different.

"Oh my gosh..." Twilight looked at each of them a little freaked out but she calmed herself and spoke. "Are you girls...monsters?"

One of the looked around and noticed everyone staying away from them, she came out and lifted her body a bit, she was half unicorn and half snake thing. She had purple scales and fur and a green mane. "Um...we...we don't like being called...monsters..."

"Oh I'm sorry, what do you like to be called?" Twilight smiled at the young snake mare.

"Well...I guess you can call me a lamia mare, my father was a giant snake." The lamia mare said. "You can call me what mama calls me. "Bi-"

"Violet Fang! Her name is Violet Fang." Butterscotch interrupted her.

Twilight however knew what she was about to say and it made her sick. "So all of you are mares?"

"That's the weird thing, for some reason whenever a new baby is born from ether mares or monsters their always female." Butterscotch pointed out. "I don't know why."

"My gosh...their all children..." Starlight looked at them all. "Did their mothers and fathers really abandon all of them?"

"Yes." Butterscotch nodded and went over to Violet Fang. "These girls just want a family...I'm the only one that cares for them."

"Who would want to be around...this?" Violet Fang wiggled her snake half.

Twilight bit her lip feeling sick now, she couldn't stand seeing all these children abandoned just because their half breeds. "Trixie!"

"Uh yes?" Trixie looked at her almost standing at attention.

"I want you to use your skills to bring out the ponies from the other side. We need to show them their errors in life!" Twilight said angry.

"I haven't seen her like this before." Starlight said to Spike.

"She gets like this sometimes." Spike added.

"Sure Twilight." Trixie said going to the other side of town.

"I know you all must be scared. But trust me okay?" Twilight said turning to the children.

Shining Star watched as Trixie used her flashy magic to the town's attention. "Come on out and watch the great and powerful Trixie!"

Shining Star knew they were going to do something fun so she turned to Silk and smiled. "Let's go outside!"

"I...I really shouldn't...they all hate me.." Silk Echo said.

"You don't know that until you go out there." Shining Star said. "Besides this place is really gross."

"True..." Silk Echo said as a board fell from how old it was. "Well okay, let's go outside."

"Huh?" The mare from before smiled at the show Trixie started and came outside, Twilight noticed a bunch of ponies started to leave and gather to watch her magic tricks.

Twilight didn't really like Trixie but she knew that Trixie was really good at getting attention, she went over to where Trixie was and spoke. "Ponies of Hoof Hollow. I am princess Twilight Sparkle and I need you all to listen to me."

"A real life princess?" Some of the ponies looked at each other and then at her shocked, they were just a small town. Why would a princess be there?

Twilight noticed they were mostly all females just like Butterscotch said. "Who of you have a monster child?"

They all looked at her confused, Twilight knew they were to scared to admit it so she pointed over to the monster children. "Those children over there have no family, no one to love them, they think so little of themselves they barely speak!"

"But their monsters! You don't have to live with monsters!" A mare shouted.

Twilight was unsure of what to say to that but then Shining Star walked up besides Twilight and Trixie. "Monsters? Look at this!"

Silk Echo came floating up shyly. "Um...h-hi..."

They all looked at her and screamed, they all started to run for their homes when Shining Star used her princess voice. "ENOUGH!"

Trixie covered her eyes and Twilight was shocked that she learned that. "GET BACK HERE RIGHT NOW!"

They all came back shaking and unsure of what their fates were going to be. Shining Star calmed her voice and pointed to Silk Echo. "This is just a girl. Yes she's a ghost, yes she's different from us. But you know what? I'm different from even my own parents. My father is a changeling queen and my mother is a alicorn, I learned something recently."

"It doesn't matter if I was a changeling or a alicorn, what I do is what matters, and what have you all done. Pushed away these children and hurt them time and time again because you think being a pure pony is all that matters." Shining Star said.

Twilight smiled at her daughter and nodded. "She's right, only one mare. Butterscotch Cinnamon, is the only one that is caring for these kids. I saw them, I saw the children and one had a snake half, another was made of slime. There is even a ghost here. But deep down their good people. I have to ask, are they the monsters? Or are you?"

The crowd all looked at each other unsure of what to say now. Twilight then continued. "I know most of you were….forced into giving birth to these kids. But it's not their fault. The children didn't ask to be born. Instead if treating this place like a ghost town to avoid monsters...you should band together and make this a town unlike any other!"

"I hate to say it, but Twilight is right." Trixie added. "When I was going up...everyone hated me, pushed me away because I was different, I had dreams and I wanted to follow them. These girls all have dreams as well. Don't make them outcasts because they look different."

The ponies all looked over and Starlight brought the monster mares over past the line, Butterscotch was nervous but she trusted them. Starlight nudged Bubble Wand in front of her. "Look at this child. Does she look like a threat to anyone?"

"Hi!" Bubble Wand said with a smile.

"Please, give them a chance." Twilight said.

"Actually..." A mare spoke up. It was the mare from before. "I...I have a daughter..."

She went over to a timber wolf pony, she looked like a pony with little wolf ears. "I never hated my little Timber pony. But I was scared of what others would think of me...I..I'm so sorry..."

"Mama?" The timber pony looked at her unsure.

"But, I'm sorry dad but I love her!" She hugged her little timber pony and the older stallion just watched them.

"I...I love my baby girl to!" Another mare said going over to a spider pony.

Soon they all went over to different monster ponies and Twilight smiled at this. "I can't believe it."

"You can't believe we solved the friendship problem?" Starlight asked.

"No, I meant this." Twilight pointed out most of the ponies and monster mares were talking and being friendly. "They just needed their eyes opened and all that hate...that mistrust, it's gone."

Shining Star noticed that Silk was still being avoided and Shining Star nudged her mother. Twilight looked back and noticed what she was trying to say. "Hey Silk? Why don't you go talk to someone?"

"Oh what about her?" Shining Star pointed at Bubble Wand.

Silk Echo nervously floated over to the slime mare. "Uh...hi?"

"Hi there!" Bubble Wand smiled at her. "You want to be my friend?"

"Sure!" Silk Echo said happily.

Twilight looked at her cutie mark and noticed it was back to normal. "She really was the problem, we solved a friendship problem and a town problem!"

"Thank you Trixie, and you as well princess Twilight." Butterscotch said. "I haven't seen these girls so happy before."

"If you need anymore help, you know where to find us." Twilight said.

"I'll come by and check in with you more often." Trixie added.

"I think this is the start of something great." Spike said as he went to the hot air balloon.

"See you later Silk!" Shining Star waved bye and left with the others.

"Bye! Thank you all so much!" Silk Echo called out. "I'll come and visit you all!"

"It's been a long day." Trixie said getting into the hot air balloon with Spike and Starlight.

"I know right?" Starlight said as she started to fire and they floated off into the air.

Twilight and Shining Star flew up and Shining Star was on her back. "Another job well done Star."

"Well it was mostly you mommy." Shining Star added.

"Let's go home, we need some rest." Twilight said as they flew back home.

It didn't take long for them to get back and Trixie looked at her friends. "Do you think they will be okay?"

"It'll take some time but someday everyone there will accept those girls." Twilight said.

"I actually meant the monsters, we didn't solve the whole monsters invading thing." Trixie pointed out.

"Oh...right..." Shining Star looked a bit worried. "Well...um..."

"That's a problem for another day." Twilight said. "Let's go inside."

They then went inside her castle and sitting on Twilight's chair was Chrysalis herself. "Welcome back Twilight~"

"Chrysalis!?" The girls all jumped back and Twilight readied herself for battle. "What are you doing here!?"

Twilight then saw Chrysalis was beaten badly and she was in pain. "What happened to you?"

"I was overthrown...another changeling queen has taken my throne." Chrysalis said weakly. "I...I need your help."


	18. Chapter 18

Twilight sat down and took a deep breath. "Okay...explain again?"

Starlight was patching Chrysalis up and Chrysalis spoke again. "Like I said before, a new queen has appeared. I don't know how...but she awoke and now she's trying to kill me and take over Equestria."

"Who is it?" Twilight asked.

"Her name is Illexia. She is a powerful changeling, stronger then me." Chrysalis admitted.

"We can't help her!" Shining Star said annoyed. "She's evil!"

"Star, I know how you feel but-" Twilight tried to calm her daughter down. Shining Star shook her head and glared at Chrysalis.

"She's up to something! She always is!" Shining Star said and went up to Chrysalis. "Why should we trust a word you say?"

"Because if you don't, your whole world is doomed." Chrysalis pointed out.

"Oh please, I don't believe you." Shining Star said.

"Why?" Chrysalis asked. "I'm not lying to you. Even Twilight believes me. Don't your trust your creator?"

"You tried to eat me and Dusk! You tried to get rid of us time and time again. I have no reason or desire to trust you!" Shining Star pointed out.

Chrysalis rolled her eyes. "Right, well I don't need you, I need Twilight. So Twilight? Will you help me?"

"Do you have any proof? I'm sorry but you have tricked me before." Twilight said.

"My scars are not enough?" Chrysalis asked. "It's not like I have anything on me, but I can show you what she looks like."

"Please do." Starlight said.

Chrysalis then used her magic to make a magical copy of this new changeling. She wasn't a black changeling but a stone gray color, her wings were not green but purple as was her eyes. Her mane was long straight and wavy and was neon purple. "This is Illexia."

"Is she some sort of new changeling?" Twilight asked.

"No...she's an older one, She was born even before I was." Chrysalis explained. "The truth is...she is far more dangerous then I am."

"In what way?" Starlight asked.

"I capture ponies to drain their love. She kills for the fun of it." Chrysalis said. "Most of my loyal guards are gone now..."

"We have to help." Twilight said looking at her friends.

"But she's probably lying! No changeling looks like that." Shining Star said.

"I know how you feel Shining Star, but if she is telling the truth in any way. We would risk letting a monster run free." Twilight explained.

"Well..I guess you have a point...fine." Shining Star sighed, she didn't like it but they didn't have much choice.

"Get your friends Twilight, we need all the help we can get." Chrysalis said. "We have to hurry."

Meanwhile in Chrysalis's kingdom Illexia, the gray changeling queen was sitting on Chrysalis's throne. Thorax along with a bunch of changelings were in chains and taken to the dungeon by the guards that turned against Chrysalis.

"This is bad..." Thorax said looking at another changeling.

The other changeling was a black changeling but she didn't have green like all the others, she had blue eyes and blue wings. "Iris?" Thorax asked.

"Huh?" Iris looked at him confused. "What do you want traitor?"

"Still on about that?" Thorax looked annoyed. "We're both in trouble here."

The royal guards shoved Thorax and Iris into the same cell and Thorax noticed Iris jump at him. "Whoa!? Hey!"

"Chrysalis gave us life, you betrayed her!" Iris growled.

"I didn't want to hurt anyone!" Thorax explained pulling on the chain that linked them.

"You think it's so easy to just change everything we're about? Are you stupid!?" Iris said angry. "Do you know what happens when we don't follow orders!?"

"But isn't that reason enough to change things? Iris I know your a fighter, your loyal to Chrysalis. But why? She has only ever hurt us, I made friends with a dragon named Spike and because of that I don't need to eat love anymore!" Thorax explained.

"That's a lie!" Iris tried to hit him again but he tackled her to the ground. "Chrysalis is only trying to keep us alive!"

"Listen to yourself Iris, that's the brainwashing Chrysalis did to us when we were kids!" Thorax said keeping her pinned. "I know the hunger hurts, I know it can't go away easily. But if you don't try...you'll end up alone! No friends, no family. Just another Chrysalis!"

Iris stopped struggling and looked into his eyes before calming down, the truth was she was friends with Thorax when they were just kids and she could tell when he was serious. "Thorax...I...hate you..."

"I...I know." Thorax said with a nod. "And you have every right to, but right now we need to work together and save our people."

Iris nodded and Thorax let her go. Iris then punched him hard. "Jerk."

"Okay, you can have that one." Thorax said rubbing his arm where she punched.

"So any ideas?" Iris asked.

"Normally I could crawl through one of the holes here, but we're chained together." Thorax said.

"Great..." Iris sighed.

Back in Ponyville Twilight had gotten her friends to the castle and explained what had happened with Chrysalis. Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy and Rarity didn't like the idea of helping a villain but listened to Twilight.

"So will you help me?" Chrysalis asked.

"I guess we have no choice huh?" Rainbow Dash said.

"Are we really going to do this?" Applejack asked.

"Yes Applejack, we have to." Twilight said.

"Alright then. But we need someone to keep an eye on Chrysalis just in case." Rarity said.

"Actually, me, Melody, Misty and Spitfire can keep an eye on her." Starlight said.

"I am not going to just sit here. I am coming with you." Chrysalis said annoyed.

"Your beaten badly, you can't go fighting." Starlight said.

"And leave my kingdom in the hooves of you people? Forget it." Chrysalis pointed out.

"We really shouldn't have a large group." Twilight pointed out. "So Chrysalis will stay here with Starlight and the others."

"Then we will go and stop Illexia." Rainbow Dash said.

"I'm coming as well." Shining Star said.

"If Shining Star is going, I want to as well." Dusk said.

"You sure sis?" Shining Star looked at her twin.

"Of course, I want to be there with you." Dusk said.

"Not this time girls." Twilight said. "You girls will only get hurt, this is real danger."

"But mom, we can help!" Shining Star pointed out.

"No, this isn't like all those other times. Illexia is pure evil and will try to kill us." Twilight said.

"I agree, let's go." Rarity said, the mane six then left for the changeling kingdom.

"I really don't like having someone like Chrysalis around." Trixie said.

"Me too. But she can't do any real harm like this." Starlight pointed out.

"Are you sure about that?" Melody Bloom asked walking in.

"Oh hey Melody, where have you been?" Starlight asked.

"Sorry I've been hanging with Discord a lot lately." Melody Bloom said.

"You actually hang out with that guy?" Trixie looked at her confused.

"Only a little but I guess." Melody said.

"How can you all be so calm about this?" Chrysalis asked.

"What do you mean?" Starlight turned to her.

"Twilight and the others won't stand a chance." Chrysalis said. "Illexia is dangerous. They will be lucky to survive this."

"I don't believe you, Twilight and them have handled this sort of stuff before." Spike said.

"You do know I eat dragon eggs right?" Chrysalis said licking her lips at him.

"Uh..." Spike backed up from this.

"Star? Are we really going to stay here?" Dusk asked.

"We can't just stay, they need us." Shining Star said.

"Then let's go after them." Dusk said.

"Your right, but we have to be sneaky." Shining Star explained as they walked out.

"That reminds me Spike, what happened to that love dragon egg?" Starlight asked Spike and Chrysalis's ears perked up.

"Did you say…love dragon egg?" Chrysalis asked. "Those are amazing~"

"Starlight!" Spike looked at her annoyed. "And you Chrysalis don't even think about it, that's my baby brother!"

"Or sister." Trixie pointed out.

"I think I have enough girls in my life, another boy around home is really needed." Spike said.

"Good luck with that." Melody Bloom said. "And don't worry about the egg I checked on it and it's close to hatching."

"Speaking of love and all that, I need something to eat." Chrysalis said. "So who wants to offer themselves to me?"

The mares and Spike all looked at her and Chrysalis licked her lips. Later the mane six were at the edge of the changeling kingdom.

"To be honest...it doesn't look all that different." Rainbow Dash pointed out. "It's barren...bleak."

"Yes, but look there isn't a single Changeling outside even for patrols." Rarity added.

"That is a bit strange." Pinkie said. "So what can we do?"

"We have to go in there." Twilight said.

They each went down to the castle and inside. It was strange as there was no guards or anything around. Fluttershy was shaking a bit. "I don't like this."

"You there!" A royal guard appeared in his black armor and looked ready to fight.

"There is a guard!" Rainbow Dash said ready to fight as well.

"The new queen is expecting you all." The guard said. "Follow me."

"Come on girls, let's go." Twilight said as they started to follow the guard.

"Ah man, I could have taken him." Rainbow Dash said.

They all looked at her and walked down the hall. They knew the castle was a maze and they followed him. They walked for awhile and soon ended up in the throne room. Thanks to the guard they got there much faster then they would have alone.

They then saw Illexia waiting for them and she smiled with her fangs out. "Ah, ladies. Welcome to my home."

"Alright, we want answers!" Twilight demanded. "Why attack the changeling kingdom?"

"Why? Because it's mine." Illexia said using her magic to bring over a cup of tea and took a sip. "Chrysalis was weak, showing mercy to you silly ponies. She even lost to you, over and over again."

"That just proves you can't mess with us!" Rainbow Dash said mocking her.

"Oh please. Chrysalis is nothing but a failure. Let me put this is terms you children can understand, her losing to you would be like you losing to an apple." Illexia said with a grin.

"You think she's that weak?" Rarity asked. "Just who do you think you are!?"

"I am..." Illexia tosses the cup and it breaks on the floor. "Queen Illexia!"

They all jumped back as her magic flared up. Twilight had her guard up and her magic at the ready. "What intense power!"

"Don't worry Twilight, we fought way worse." Rainbow Dash pointed out. "Come on girls!"

"Rainbow Dash wait!" Pinkie called out as Rainbow Dash flew at Illexia and tried to kick her but Illexia moved to the side faster then she could see and kicked the throne hard.

Illexia used her magic and threw Rainbow Dash into a wall. "Show me this powerful magic you call friendship."

Rarity went over and checked on Rainbow Dash, Rainbow Dash shook her head and rubbed her head. "She's fast!"

"Keep trying, I like to play with my food~" Illexia said with a grin.

"Don't worry girls, I'll handle this!" Twilight said before firing a beam from her horn at her.

Illexia yawned and dodged easily. Fluttershy was scared but she tried not to show it. "How did you do that? I thought magic couldn't work here."

"I turned off the magic throne." Illexia said. "It would be boring if I had such an advantage."

"Girls, let's do this." Applejack said suddenly turning into her rainbow form.

"What!?" Twilight jumped from this.

"Oh?" Illexia was getting excited now. "So you have hidden powers huh?"

"Me too!" Pinkie said turning rainbow powered as well.

"How can you girls do that!?" Twilight asked.

"Actually we all can do it." Rarity pointed out turning rainbow herself to prove it. "See?"

"Right." Rainbow Dash turned into rainbow form. "Come on Fluttershy!"

"Oh right!" Fluttershy turned into her rainbow form and they all floated above Twilight.

"This is amazing, how is this possible?" Twilight watched in awe.

"We can talk about that later. Right now let's take this so called queen down!" Rainbow Dash said.

Each of the girls glowed brightly and Illexia actually looked a bit worried now. "So my snacks were hiding power huh?"

Then the five girls fired their energy at Illexia and hit her in a blinding light. "Ahhhh!"

"Ha!" Rainbow Dash gloated. "We showed her!"

"Don't get cocky yet Rainbow Dash." Twilight said pointing out a figure in the smoke and Illexia came out of the smoke not even hurt.

"Is that all you have?" Illexia asked. "Please tell me you have another ace up your sleeve."

"We have friendship Illexia! And that's something you can't beat!" Twilight said. "Girls let's work together!"

"Right!" The girls then shared their magic with Twilight and Twilight glowed and her power overflowed. Illexia licked her lips hungrily as Twilight's eyes went clear. Her horn glowing a rainbow color.

"Time to end this Illexia with the power of friendship!" Twilight then shot a large powerful beam at Illexia.

Illexia then opened her mouth and the large friendship beam was suddenly sucked into her mouth until Twilight stopped firing. Everyone looked at her shocked as she finished swallowing their magic. "What in the world!?"

Illexia licked her lips and smiled. "Thanks for the meal."

"How, that was pure magic!" Twilight shouted.

"Ah princess, that wasn't just magic, it was pure...raw friendship magic. And you should know by now, changelings eat love, friendship is a type of love. A love of friends." Illexia explained.

"No…we can't...we can't win..." Twilight said giving up hope, their best attacks did nothing. She beat all of her enemies with friendship before...now it was useless.

"What do we do now!?" Rarity turned to Twilight.

"I..I don't know.." Twilight said.

"Oh? Giving up already?" Illexia asked. "Then I guess we're done here."

Illexia then used her magic and blasted them all down except for Twilight. "Ahh!"

"Oh no, girls!" Twilight looked at her friends and then back at Illexia. "Your a monster!"

"Oh Twilight Sparkle, I've been called far worse." Illexia said before she blasted Twilight. Everything went white before everything went black. The royal guards came in and saw Illexia standing over a beaten Twilight and her friends. "Guards, take them to the dungeon."

"Are you not going to eat them?" A guard asked.

"Not yet. I want to save my meals and I want to see the look on Twilight's subjects as I eat her in front of them." Illexia said with a grin.

The guards looked at her sickened, even they wouldn't do something so wrong, they then took the girls and went down to the dungeon. Thorax and Iris watched them throw the girls into a cell and Thorax's ears went down. "Oh no..."

"What?" Iris looked at him confused. "It's just some ponies."

"That's Twilight Sparkle and her friends Iris...they were the world's best hope." Thorax pointed out.

"Wait, that's Twilight? And she already lost!?" Iris said getting annoyed. "Come on!"

"Illexia won...we can't do anything to stop her now." Thorax said giving up.

"Really? Are you kidding me?" Iris sat down. "We can't just give up can we?"

"What else can we do?" Thorax asked.

"We don't give up for one, and two there has to be someone out there that can beat her. We can beat her!" Iris pointed out.

"How can we do something even Twilight failed at?" Thorax asked.

"Twilight this, Twilight that. All you talk about is Twilight and her powers of friendship and love. That or Spike." Iris groaned. "Do you have a crush on them or something?"

"I don't know...maybe?" Thorax blushed a little.

"Okay, ew." Iris said, she wanted to change the subject now. She looked over at Twilight and her friends. "Hey ponies!"

"Ugh..." Twilight shook her head and sat up. "Wha?"

"Wake up, we need your help." Iris said.

"Who are you?" Twilight asked looking around the place. "Where am I?"

"My name is Iris, I'm a female changeling." Iris said. "And you are in the dungeons of the changeling castle."

"That's right...we lost..." Twilight took a deep breath trying to think.

"Do you have any plans to get out of here?" Iris asked.

"No..." Twilight said.

"What is wrong with you?" Rainbow Dash said waking up and shaking off her defeat.

"We lost Rainbow Dash, we can't fight someone like this..." Twilight pointed out.

"Are you kidding?" Rainbow Dash looked at her friend confused. "So what if we lost? We'll get her next time."

"There won't be a next time Rainbow Dash...our best weapon against evil...our friendship couldn't beat her...our friendship could beat anyone..." Twilight said.

"Wake up!" Rainbow Dash slapped her. "You are not allowed to give up!"

Twilight looked at her friend shocked and rubbed her now red cheek. Rainbow Dash continued. "Your Twilight Sparkle, the princess of friendship. We all look up to you! Why do you think we all trained like crazy and suffered to bring out our rainbow forms? We did it to help you our friend. If you give up, they win. Do you want that?"

"Of course not!" Twilight said. "But how can we win?"

"Let me answer you with another question, if you give up. What will that do? Your not just the princess, your a mother now. Think about what that monster will do if she gets to Ponyville." Rainbow Dash pointed out.

Twilight realized she was right and slapped her cheeks. "Your right Rainbow Dash, I can't let this get to me."

"Hello?" Iris called out. "Still here."

"Who is that?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Some changeling in another cell." Twilight explained.

"Her name is Iris." Thorax said.

"Is that you Thorax?" Twilight asked.

"Hi princess." Thorax smiled a little. "This is my friend Iris."

"I thought Changelings didn't have friends." Rainbow Dash pointed out.

"We're not friends." Iris said. "Last time he called me that I was tortured for weeks."

"What?" The two ponies looked at her confused.

"It's all my fault..." Thorax explained. "You see...Iris helped me sneak out so I could get away from Chrysalis once, however Chrysalis found out about it and she beat Iris nearly to death and made her...do terrible things just to live."

"That's awful." Twilight said.

"I...I did what I had to to survive alright? Let's just leave it at that." Iris said looking away from them.

"I don't get it." Rainbow Dash really wanted to change the subject, it was getting to dark for her taste. "Why do you have blue eyes and wings when all the other changelings are green?"

"Huh? Oh that. That's because I'm a female changeling. You see male changelings have green eyes and wings. Females have blue." Iris explained.

"Chrysalis has green though." Twilight admitted.

"Changeling queens have all sorts of colors as you probably saw Illexia has purple and gray colors." Iris added.

"So why haven't we seen more female changelings?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Most of us are breeders, we stay in the hive and the males work. Why do you think changelings feed on love so much? Their not getting food for just themselves." Iris said.

"Then the men work and bring the love the get to bring them to the females?" Twilight questioned.

"When a female feeds on love they produce more eggs and that makes more changelings." Iris said. "This jerk here wants to change all that to make himself feel better."

"I want to be free from the hunger Iris. That hunger that eats away at all of us." Thorax explained.

"Shut it!" Iris glared at him. "You were meant to be my mate remember? You were meant to get me love so I can give you offspring. We could have been happy. Heck I was even willing to go with you when you ran away but you left me behind to take YOUR punishment, you don't even know what Chrysalis made me do!"

"Oh wow..." Twilight and Rainbow Dash looked at each other.

"Iris...I'm sorry...that's all I can say.." Thorax said feeling bad already.

"Sorry? That's all you can say? You know what? After everything I've done for you, what I suffered because of you...your just selfish. You say you made friends and changed for the better. But look at you, betraying your people, hurting those who believed in you. And for what? To prove yourself to some dragon? To some ponies?" Iris brought up.

"I…." Thorax wanted to say something but he didn't have the words. "I'm sorry…."

"That's all you ever say..." Iris said going to a corner and sitting down.

Twilight looked around and noticed a hole that was small but not too small. "Hmm.."

She nudged Fluttershy and woke her up. "Hmm..huh?"

"Fluttershy? You okay?" Twilight asked.

"Yeah...just a little shaken." Fluttershy said getting up. "What did I miss?"

"A lot of drama." Rainbow Dash pointed out.

"Fluttershy, Can you fit in that hole? If you can find a way through you can get the keys and get us out of here." Twilight explained her plan.

"I...I guess I can try." Fluttershy nodded. She knew they would be in trouble if they just sat around after all.

"Great, good luck." Twilight smiled at her friend.

Fluttershy smiled back and then went to the hole and crawled through. Rainbow Dash looked at Twilight worried for her friend. "You sure she can do it?"

"She's the only one small enough, and flexible enough to try...we have to believe in her." Twilight explained.

They then just sat and waited, hoping Fluttershy would come through for them.


	19. Chapter 19

"Come on sis." Shining Star said waiting for her sister. Dusk came up the hill she was on.

"How long have we been walking?" Dusk asked.

"I don't know actually." Shining Star pointed out. "But we should be close."

"You two aren't ready for her." They heard Chrysalis on the hill. They looked behind them and saw Chrysalis, she had been following them this whole time somehow.

"What are you doing here?" Shining Star asked. "Don't you have wounds to heal or something?"

"Do you really think I would leave my kingdom in the hooves of a pony? Illexia isn't some push over." Chrysalis pointed out.

"Mommy can beat her." Dusk said.

"Do you really believe that?" Chrysalis asked. "Illexia can't be beaten by friendship, she can absorb friendship just like love."

"I thought changeling could only eat love." Dusk pointed out.

"She is so much stronger then a normal changeling or even a queen, she can eat anything close to love and friendship is a kind of love." Chrysalis said.

"Do you know of any way to beat her then?" Shining Star asked.

"The best way...is changeling magic." Chrysalis said. "All of my changelings are to scared to fight her, so I need to be the one to fight her."

"Or you can teach us some changeling magic." Shining Star pointed out.

"What!?" Dusk and Chrysalis looked at her confused.

"Look Dusk, I don't like the idea but we need to learn how to beat her, if we don't we might not stand a chance." Shining Star explained.

"Why would I teach you two changeling magic?" Chrysalis growled.

"Because if you don't work with us in saving your kingdom, not only will this Illexia take over your kingdom, she'll kill everyone. And if you even care slightly about your people you'll help us." Shining Star told her, Chrysalis knew she was right but hated it anyway.

"Fine...you have a point so I will teach you some tricks of a changeling." Chrysalis said.

"Then let's get to work." Shining Star said.

"Are you sure sis?" Dusk asked.

"Dusk, I know how you feel. But we need to learn this just in case." Shining Star said.

"We don't have a lot of time, so let's begin." Chrysalis said right before they started to train.

Meanwhile Melody Bloom and Misty Gale were playing a board game. "Hmmm…"

"Hey!" Starlight came running up. "Where is Chrysalis!?"

"I think she went after Shining Star and Dusk." Melody Bloom said.

"You mean their gone!?" Starlight jumped. "Oh no! Twilight's going to kill me!"

"Why?" Misty Gale asked.

"Her kids are missing! And a villain is with them!" Starlight said.

"You did it before." Melody said. "And you are a villain."

"Hey! I am not a villain...anymore." Starlight said.

"Don't worry about it." Misty Gale said. "I have a feeling this will all work out."

"Sit down and join us." Melody Bloom said.

Starlight looked at how relaxed the two of them were and just sighed. She then sat down and joined them in their game.

"Deal her in." Misty Gale said.

Melody gave her the pieces she needed and they all played.

In Twilight's room the love dragon egg cracked glowing a bit. "Did anyone hear something?"

Back at the changeling kingdom Illexia was looking at her kingdom and a drone flew up to her. "Uh...queen?"

"What is it?" Illexia looked at him annoyed.

"We have spotted Chrysalis with two young alicorns coming this way." The drone said.

"My my, so many quests lately." Illexia said and then grabbed the drone by the throat. "Oh and one thing."

"Gah...what..did...I do..?" The drone choked.

"I am not a queen, I am your queen, the queen of this world. And a lowly drone has no right to speak to me." Illexia then smacked him down to the ground and stomped on his head crushing it getting her hoof all bloody.

Down in the dungeons Fluttershy managed to crawl out of the cell and quickly looked around to make sure there was no guards around. "Where are the keys?"

"Probably on the guards." Thorax said.

Fluttershy looked worried and then sneaked into the next room, she saw a guard facing away from her and noticed the keys on his armor. She gulped and tried to reach for the keys, she grabbed the keys and then heard Illexia's voice. "Guards! Come here at once!"

The guard then walked out of the room but didn't notice the keys missing, Fluttershy sighed in relief and then went back to her friends unlocking the cell. Rainbow Dash and the others came out. "You did awesome Fluttershy."

"Thanks Rainbow Dash." Fluttershy smiled.

"Hey let us out to." Iris asked. "We can help."

"Should we?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Go ahead." Twilight nodded.

Fluttershy went over and unlocked the door for them. Iris and Thorax came out and Thorax smiled. "Thanks ladies."

"Come on, we have to hurry." Rarity said.

"Right. Let's go." Twilight said before they all headed out.

Illexia smiled as Shining Star, Dusk Sparkle and Chrysalis came into view. "Let's see how you handle your own guards."

The royal guards came up and flew down at them and Chrysalis glared at them. "Girls, you know what to do!"

Dusk's horn glowed and blasted the guards, they each then fell to the ground hard. "Yeah!"

"Good one Dusk!" Shining Star cheered her on.

"Hm?" Illexia then came down and smiled at them. "So Chrysalis, you went and got help from...what did you call them? Rejects?"

"Shut it Illexia!" Chrysalis growled. "This is my kingdom, my castle!"

"Haha!" Illexia just laughed. "Please, I already beat Twilight and her friends."

"Where are they!?" Dusk demanded. "Where is mommy!?'

"Dusk...I need you to go look for Twilight and the others." Shining Star said.

"Are you sure?" Dusk asked looking worried.

"I can handle her Dusk, just find and keep mommy safe." Shining Star said.

"This will be entertaining." Chrysalis said backing up.

Dusk then ran off to the castle and Illexia tried to block her when Shining Star shot a beam at her feet. "So you think a child can best me?"

"I'm not just any child. I'm the princess of harmony, and you hurt my both my parents, your going to regret that!"

Chrysalis looked at her shocked. She had never been called a parent before. Shining Star then teleported and blasted her with magic. Illexia believed she could take it and didn't move, she then felt the full force knocking her back hard.

"Ahh!" Illexia growled in pain and got up. "What kind of power is that!?"

Illexia then shot at her with her own magic and Shining Star dodged easily, she then glowed and blasted Illexia again. "Ahh!"

"Amazing...she's faster and stronger then Illexia, but how?"

"Enough!" Illexia then charged at Shining Star and Shining Star charged her magic up.

Dusk quickly made her way through the changeling castle, thanks to Chrysalis she learned the layout and made her way to through. She saw Twilight and the others working on a door trying to get out. "Come on Iris."

"They changed the locks often okay? I'm working on it." Iris said.

"Hey!" Dusk called out.

"Huh? Dusk?" Twilight looked over at her. "What are you doing here!?"

"Saving you, and everyone else." Dusk said. "I know a shortcut out of here."

They smiled and followed Dusk until they finally reached the outside, Twilight Sparkle then saw Illexia blast Shining Star into the dirt and Shining Star rolled out of the way as she tried to stomp her. "Star!"

Shining Star then shot a laser through Illexia's wing and then jumped on her. "This is for my mommy!"

"Get off you brat!" Illexia tried to shake her off and Shining Star held on.

"Shining Star, use the trick I showed you!" Chrysalis shouted. "No mercy!"

Shining Star nodded. "You like feeding on magic right? Then how about you feed on this!?"

She then used her magic to crush Illexia down into the dirt. "No! I refuse to lose to a child!"

"Too bad for you!" Shining Star then used changeling magic and started to drain Illexia's powers. "Time you felt what you did to so many others!"

"Ahhh!" Illexia cried out as she lost her magic quickly.

"Oh gosh..." Twilight looked at this in shock. "Star..."

"Is that changeling magic!?" Rarity asked.

"Chrysalis taught us some to fight against her." Dusk explained.

"But it's...it's so wrong." Fluttershy added.

"You ponies think that's wrong?" Iris glared at them. "Then I guess how you eat things is wrong."

Illexia tried to move but her hooves were trapped in the dirt. "No!"

Shining Star drained a large amount of magic from her and then coughed up a bit of magic. "Phew...that was weird...now you have no magic left. It's time you give up!"

"I have a better idea." Chrysalis came up to them. "Finish her off."

"I'm not going to kill her!" Shining Star said.

"That's right, Shining Star isn't a killer!" Twilight said going up to them.

"Mom your okay!" Shining Star hugged her.

"Yeah, and thanks to you we made it out of here." Twilight said.

"if you let her live she'll come back to kill us all someday, just like she did this time!" Chrysalis said.

"Yes child, kill me. Take my power and kill me with it. Isn't it justice?" Illexia said with a smile.

"I don't want your magic!" Shining Star said. "You can have it back for all I care, I just want you to go away and never come back!"

"Do you really think that would happen if I got my magic back?" Illexia pointed out.

"Kill her!" Chrysalis said.

"She's already beaten, let her go!" Twilight said.

Shining Star didn't know what to do, Illexia was evil sure, but everyone had a right to live didn't they?

"Hey I have an idea." Rainbow Dash came over.

"Huh?" Shining Star looked at her aunt confused.

"Remember my mom Serenity? She and her sister were sealed in crystal for years, a long time. We can seal her away and there won't be a chance of her coming back." Rainbow Dash pointed out.

"That's actually...not a bad idea." Twilight agreed.

"Are you ponies serious?" Chrysalis looked at them as if they were stupid. "Where would you even get a gem?"

"Rarity?" Pinkie looked at her friend.

"What?" Rarity looked back at her.

"You have a gem don't you? You always carry one around." Pinkie added.

"I...well yes I do." Rarity said taking out a red crystal.

"That will work." Twilight said taking it from her.

"I will come back and when I do, none of you will live that day." Illexia threatened.

Twilight just shook her head and then used her alicorn magic, she then sealed her away into the gem and Chrysalis just rolled her eyes. "Well now that that is over I have a kingdom to fix, please leave."

"We'll keep the gem if that's okay." Twilight said taking the gem.

"Do whatever you want with it, Illexia isn't my problem anymore and I don't care now." Chrysalis said she was about to go when Shining Star stopped her. "Hm?"

"Chrysalis...thank you." Shining Star looked away and then kissed her cheek before going back to Twilight.

Chrysalis felt her cheek and smiled a little, she didn't want anyone to see that however and flew back to her castle. Iris and Thorax looked at each other and Thorax sighed. "So...what do about us?"

"What about us?" Iris asked.

"Can we...I don't know..start over?" Thorax asked.

"Look, I don't like you, you had your chance." Iris said but then she looked back at the kingdom. "However I'm as good as banished now just like you…you have a place to stay?"

"I have a little place." Thorax said. "It's a cave."

"Fine...let's go." Iris said and they flew off.

"I think it's time for us to go." Twilight said watching them go.

"I need a bath." Rarity added.

They all had a laugh and then went back to Ponyville. As soon as Twilight got home Starlight jumped up from the board game. "Twilight! Girls!"

"Hey Starlight! Hey Spike! Hey Melody and Misty!" Twilight said happily.

"See? I told you they would come back unharmed." Misty said as they put away the game.

"Good news girls." Melody said giving them a letter. "Celestia has the city ready for the coronation!"

Shining Star smiled, her horn sparked however and she looked up. "What the?"

"All that magic you took from Illexia must have overcharged your magic. You better lay off the magic for awhile." Twilight said.

"Okay mom." Shining Star nodded.

"Let's go, we have a big day of celebration ahead of us!" Dusk said.

"Come on girls. Let's go!" Twilight said happily.

Some time later Twilight was with the other princesses as everyone Shining Star had met and made friends with were there and watching happily as Shining Star came up to the princesses. Twilight's parents were there happily watching and Velvet was tearing up.

Thorax and Iris were there watching from afar, Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash were there beaming with pride. Even Sunset Shimmer was there watching. Serenity and Paradise were next to the mane five as well.

Even the monster mares and their families came to watch.

Melody Bloom and Misty Gale were with Trixie, Spike and Starlight looking at the food spread. Celestia then began. "Shining Star, you have gone above and beyond what a child your age would have done. You passed all your trials in ideal time and skill. You have brought monsters and ponies closer together even finding new species and helping them. You even fought against a changeling queen and won saving Twilight and her friends."

Shining Star blushed at all the comments. Celestia continued. "You helped fix my mistakes as well as patch things up between Equestria and Unicorn Grove. You even helped free Crystal Heart and helped some changelings. You have done so much in just the couple of months you have been alive."

"It is an honor to give this to you." Celestia said as Crystal Heart used her magic and placed the crown she showed her before on top of Shining Star's head. "And welcome you as a princess of Equestria. Would you like a title?"

"I..." Shining Star nodded. "I'll go with what everyone has been calling me. I am Shining Star, the princess of Harmony!"

Then everyone cheered happily for her and the ceremony was finished, the party however was just getting started as Pinkie came up and fired party cannons all over the place. "Party!"

Dusk ran up and hugged her sister. "My sister is a princess!"

"Hehe! Thanks Dusk." Shining Star hugged her sister back.

"I guess I should start calling you princess instead of sister huh?" Dusk said.

"Nah, we're family and I don't want this to change who I am." Shining Star laughed a bit.

"You did amazing." Celestia said coming up to her as everyone mingled. "I'm so proud of you, I had no idea monsters were...with ponies."

"Shining!" Silk Echo came over and floated above them. "I can't believe I would see someone become a princess in my life...I mean my unlife. After life? That's the one!"

Nova came up to them with a smile. "I remember the day I became a princess. You have a lot of work ahead of you, but today you can relax and enjoy this."

"Thank you Princess Nova." Shining Star said.

"You don't need to be so formal now Star." Twilight pointed out. "Your one of us now after all."

"You look amazing in that crown Star." Luna explained.

"It suits you." Celestia said.

"I have a question though, why is your horn sparking?" Luna pointed out Shining Star's horn sparking.

"Oh I drained Illexia of the magic she stole over the years." Shining Star explained.

"That is a lot of magic to store up in a single horn." Cadance said. "Will you be okay?"

"I will be, mommy said I just shouldn't use magic for awhile." Shining Star said.

"This will make a great story!" Trixie said taking notes.

"What do you mean?" Fluttershy asked.

"Remember when you said I could turn my stories into books? Will I think this is where I'm going to start, I'll call it..."The princess of harmony." sounds fun right?" Trixie explained.

"That sounds like a great book." Fluttershy smiled.

Trixie blushed at this and got closer to her. "Fluttershy...I..."

Starlight suddenly appeared between them. "Hi Trixie, hey Fluttershy!"

"Oh hello Starlight." Fluttershy smiled at her friend.

"Would you be a dear and get me some punch? I can't find the table with it." Starlight asked.

"Oh sure thing." Fluttershy walked off and Trixie turned to her friend.

"Really? I was going to...tell her my true feelings.." Trixie said.

"Sorry Trixie but...I have feelings for her too." Starlight countered.

"So it's like that huh? A friendly rivalry to see who can woo her?" Trixie said.

"As long as there isn't any hard feelings when we start dating." Starlight explained.

"Oh it's on." Trixie and Starlight smiled at each other with sparks going between them.

"Hey girls!" Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo came up to Shining Star and the others.

"Oh hey! Where have you three been lately?" Shining Star asked.

"We've been helping ponies around Canterlot after it was blown up." Apple Bloom explained.

"Oh that's nice." Shining Star smiled. "Sounds like a good deed!"

"Yeah, who knows, maybe we'll be princesses someday?" Sweetie Belle said jokingly.

"Maybe we all can be princesses?" Dusk said.

"I remember when I said stuff like that." Luna said nudging her sister.

"Let's let them have their fun." Celestia pointed out.

"So any plans after this Twilight?" Cadance asked.

"Going home and taking a long nap, all this excitement is getting to me." Twilight admitted.

"Sounds well deserved." Cadance added. "Also me and Glitter Heart are finally connecting."

"That's good, she was really upset with you and Shining Armor." Twilight said.

"I'm just glad she's calling me mom again." Cadance said. "So do you have any boyfriends yet?"

"Pfft! What stallion would be into me?" Twilight asked. "I don't want to be alone but I don't want to settle ether."

"Well there is that Flash Sentry guy, and there is that Silverwind hunk." Cadance suggested.

"Me and Silver or Flash?" Twilight thought about it. "Maybe...I could go out with them to see who would work out."

"Well I love to couple people up, you could be a power couple...let's see. "Flashlight."?" Cadance pointed out.

"Uh…" Twilight just shook her head from that name.

"Or maybe "Silverlight."?" Cadance added.

"That does have a ring to it. But I can't just pick a boyfriend from just a power couple name." Twilight said.

"That's so true." Cadance nodded. "How about you call me when your ready to go out and I can help? I am the princess of love after all."

"Thanks Cadance. I will." Twilight said.

"Excuse me Twilight?" Celestia called out to her.

"Yes Celestia?" Twilight went over to her mentor.

"What did you do with Illexia's gem?" Celestia asked.

"We made sure that she can't get out and buried the gem in the backyard of the castle." Twilight said.

"Good idea. Make sure she can't get out." Celestia nodded.

"That's the plan." Twilight added.

The party lasted for several hours and everyone left with something because Pinkie had a gift bag for everyone to take home. They all went home and Twilight took the twins back home, Spike came with them as everyone else stayed to help clean up.

When they got home they noticed a bright pink light coming from Twilight's room. "What's that?"

Twilight, Shining Star, Dusk and Spike all went to Twilight's room and noticed the love dragon egg breaking and burst open. "It's the love dragon!"

The light dimmed down and a pink baby dragon was sitting in the cracked egg, she had pink scales and a white under belly, her top scales were white as well and she had purple eyes. "Gaa..."

"It hatched!" Dusk said happily.

Twilight went over to the baby and checked. "Hmm, it's a girl!"

"What!? Oh man, I'm still the only guy around here!?" Spike complained.

"What do you want to name her?" Shining Star asked.

"Hehe!" The baby dragon grabbed her own tail and giggled rolling out of the egg shell and Twilight picked her up.

"I think...her name will be Joy." Twilight said.

"Hehe!" The baby dragon licked her nose. "Gaaba!"

"Yep, her name is Joy." Twilight smiled at her.

Then everything faded to black.

"Welcome to the family little one."


End file.
